Got Your Back
by KaylieR
Summary: When Viola meets her new roommate, Duke, she lets him in on her secret identity. Duke has Viola's back and with no secrets between the two a relationship can blossom, and Viola's experience at Illyria is entirely different.
1. Chapter 1

**Got Your Back**

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**Author's Notes: **_Just a note that I've recently gone back and reformatted the story for consistency- the story hasn't changed, just the look of it, and just slightly.__** Xo, K.**_

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**Chapter One**

Viola strutted along the hall in the all boys residence at Illyria. She felt ridiculous, and uncomfortable with her chest taped and absurd mustache on.

_Oh god, they're playing football in the hall, what the hell? Boys are insane, it's a perfectly nice day outside, they should throw things in the court yard- Why do they have to endanger my face? _

"230, 232... 234! Thank god!" Viola muttered under her breath as she found her residence room. Well, her brother's room really. Viola was taking her brother, Sebastian's place at Illyria while he was off with his band in London. Except in order to do this, Viola had to act and dress like him- oh and talk like him too! It was all for her love of soccer. The coach had cancelled the girls' soccer team at Cornwall, her own high school, because there weren't enough girls on the team that year! And the coach wasn't letting her try out for the guys' team. Of course, Viola knew this was illegal and she could put a motion through to let girls on the team, but it would take too long to go through all the red tape- she would miss half the season. Besides, she didn't want to be on a team which thought less of her as a player just because she was a girl! So, here she was. In room 158 of the all-boys floor in a residence of Illyria.

It was a double room, but her roommate wasn't there. His stuff was though-posters of soccer players, dirty clothes on the floor, and a soccer ball on his desk- he was probably on the team! Viola knew this was going to be a problem. A male roommate. She was worried how it was going to play out, but at the same time ecstatic to be living with a guy – and if he was on the team, he must be in great shape. And hopefully cute too! She searched the room for a picture of him, but didn't find any personal photos. Oh well. She would meet him soon enough.

_Shoot, wait! He's on the soccer team! If he finds out I'm not really who I say I am, he might tell the coach, and then my plan is completely going to fail, and this would have been SO pointless. I may as well just go back to mom's and wear a pink pouffy cupcake dress for the rest of my days. Ugh- but if he does think I'm a guy, It's going to be next to impossible to live here. But I needed allies, people to help me get through this if I am going to pull it off. And who better to have my back than the guy I live with? _

As Viola's mind played through all the possible scenarios, she removed her wig, shaking out her long brown hair, and pulled off her side burns and moustache. Seriously, if people thought she looked like a boy, they were crazy. But it had worked so far. She reached under her shirt, and pulled off her bandages from around her chest. Relief. Kicking off her brothers' uniform shoes which were gigantic on her (she had to stuff the toe), Viola fell backwards onto her bed. She closed her eyes for thirty seconds, trying to calm down. This plan was fail safe. If it worked out, she would get to play on the soccer team, if it didn't she would have a school she wasn't even enrolled at mad and her brother's escapade to London would be revealed. Not really a big problem for her. She was only missing two weeks at Cornwall, and it wasn't like she was missing high school, she just was missing classes at _her _high school.

Viola swung her legs over the left side of the bed, and swung her upper body into a sitting position. She reached over and unzipped her duffel bag. There, sitting on top of Sebastian's band tees, ripped jeans and school uniform was a super short denim mini-skirt and a white strapless tank top with eyelet lace detail at the bottom. She grabbed her scandalous outfit and stood beside the closed door, so if her roommate entered while she was half-naked, she would be safely behind the door out of sight. It turned out to be an unnecessary precaution though; Viola was able to unpack everything (her girl supplies like bras and tampons tucked away safely in a box under her bed) before her roommate made his first appearance.

Viola was sitting on her bed with her silver MacBook Pro on her lap, which was a gift –or rather, a bribe- from her mother. She was given it after promising her mother she would "come out" at the Debutante Ball, and do all of the annoying things that went along with being a debutante, including volunteering at the dreadful Carnival. Viola rolled her eyes at the thought and then refocused on her computer screen. She was on the Illyria student site, looking up her (or rather, Sebastian's) courses for the term. That was when he walked in the room. Her new roommate. He was absolutely breath taking. Deffinitely had the body and the face. And he played soccer! Viola was the luckiest girl in the world, she got to sleep with _him_. Well, sleep in the same room as him. But maybe that would change. He had short brown hair, the kind that fell into place perfectly without any gel, dark tanned skin, and a rugged but still completely adorable face. His eyes were a welcoming brown, and he had a lopsided smile on his face. Viola trailed her gaze down to his chest- he wasn't wearing a shirt, only a pair of gray sweats. His abs were perfectly defined, and his shoulders and arms were strong, but not scarily built. He wore his sweats low, and his white Calvin Kleins poked out from under them. He wore those low, too- she could see the top of his pelvis. Viola looked back up, and met his eyes.

"Hi, I'm Viola," She gave him a lopsided grin to meet his own, and cocked her head to the side waiting for a response. She didn't want to give too much information away before she could gauge this guy's personality. She leaned back onto her hands, pushing her chest out, trying to dazzle him as best she could. She needed all the influence her womanly charms had to get this guy on her side.

"Hey, ummm..." he looked down at Viola's body which was unashamedly on display for him, and Viola thought she saw his cheeks pink. "I, I'm Duke. What, are you Sebastian's girlfriend or something?" He looked at her, now confused.

"Oh, ew, hardly. I'm his sister!" In her disgust, she let her sexual predator act down and went back to being regular tomboy Viola. She saw Duke relax a bit and decided that maybe that was the better track to take. "Actually, it's kind of a long story, but my brother ran off to London to play a gig with his band- it's this big contest- and I had a bit of a problem with my own high school, so I decided to come here for a few weeks to take my brother's place." That was the best description she could think to give him without mentioning soccer and the huge deception that she was about to weave herself into.

"Um, what? Can you even do that? What are you planning to do, take your brother's classes? I mean, they're going to know you're a... you know!"

"A girl?"

"Well, duh! I mean, you aren't enrolled here, your brother is. And what about your high school? Where do you even go to high school anyways?"

"Cornwall. And I completely hate it there right now. Even if I wasn't here, I wouldn't be going."

"So wait wait, you've gotta explain this to me- why aren't you going to your school? And why are you here? You love your brother that much to cover his butt like this? And how do you even think you're going to do that? Ah, what, this is too weird."

"Haha, okay Duke- sorry, I know this is completely strange. But I'm going to dress like a guy during classes, so the teachers will think I'm my brother. We _are_ twins. Here-" Viola pulled out a picture of her and Sebastian from the side pocket of her duffel bag and handed it to the bewildered Duke, "wait here, I'll be right back." She picked up her disguise and headed out to the washroom. Luckily, there was no one in it and she quickly ran into a stall to change back into 'Sebastian'.

Viola, now dressed in a school uniform with facial hair, wig and all, opened the door to room 158. "Ta-da!" She said it in her girliest voice, which brought a look of complete shock mixed with confusion, to her new roommate's face.

"Woah. That actually might work. But _why_? I still don't get it. What happened at Cornwall that makes you not want to go back so badly as to do this?" He gestured to her new looks with one hand as he said that. "I mean, I know their soccer team sucks, haha, but the school's not that bad."

"Duke, you're on the soccer team here, right?"

"Uh, yeah- it **is** pretty obvious. Striker, first string. Why?"

"Well, they cancelled the girls' soccer team at Cornwall, and the coach wouldn't let me try out for the guys' team. Actually, my boyfriend is goalie and he didn't even stick up for me- they all just laughed along with the coach. I love soccer more than anything, and I figured that I could come here, pretend to be Sebastian and try out for the Illyria team. Even if I didn't come here, I wouldn't want to be back at Cornwall I'm so mad at Justin."

"Woah, your boyfriend is Justin? I totally made him cry last season during the Cornwall-Illyria game!"

"First of all, he is NOT my boyfriend. But oh my god, that was you? That was the funniest thing- I had to shove my fist in my mouth to stop myself from laughing. I shouldn't have, though, knowing that he would easily laugh in _my_ face. I would love to see the look on his face when he found out that I beat him at soccer, **I **would love to make him cry."

"You're pretty serious about this, huh? I mean, this all makes more sense knowing you want to join the soccer team."

"Yeah, Duke, I am," Viola smiled to herself. _So not only was he completely hot, but I just revealed my plan to him and he hasn't run out of the room screaming, or laughed in my face yet. Wow._

"Huh. No kidding. Umm, you do know Coach Dinklage lets girls try out for the team though, right? It happened like a few years ago. I wasn't here, but I've heard about it, and the team pictures are up in the athletic hall. I think it's like a school policy too."

"Really? Oh, but I can't try out as a girl. I'm not registered as a student here, remember?"

"No, you're not. Sebastian. Haha. Ugh. But if you're going to dress like a dude- you have to take off that stupid mustache. Seriously. No soccer player on my team is going to have a mustache."

"Deal."

"Actually, while you're at it, why don't you go back to being Viola? I like that look better," Duke admitted with a bashful smile.

Viola laughed, and pulled off the wig and sideburns. "There."

"So I guess this means I have a girl for a roommate, huh? This will be interesting. You're not high maintenance are you?"

"Hardly. I like getting dirty, ripping my clothes, and playing with boys. I am the least high maintenance girl there is." Viola noticed that Duke's cheeks were definitely bright red. What she said was all true, in the most innocent sense, but she couldn't help flirting with this muscular god in front of her. He was a dream come true.

"This is going to be the most interesting semester I've ever had."

"And I guess you have me to blame for that?"

"Guess so," Duke turned towards his desk, about to pull out a text book, but then turned back. "Hey Viola? I hope you make the team, I'd love to see the look on Justin's face when he realizes a girl made him cry."

"Thanks Duke," Viola beamed at him. Her plan was going to work after all, but she wouldn't have to struggle through this alone. She had her roommate beside her.

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**Please Read & Review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Got Your Back**

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**Author's Notes:**_Thank you for the reviews, I hope you enjoy this new chapter! I am currently writing the third one, it should be up soon. There is a lot of recapitulation from the movie in this chapter, but it was necessary to establish the groundwork for my story. I look forward to reading your reviews!__** Xo, K.**_

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**Chapter Two**

"Alright girl, let's go."

"Duke! Stop calling me a girl!" Viola whispered at him under her breath. She cleared her throat and in her deep voice said, "I'm Sebastian Hastings, manly man, man stud, macho man."

"Sure you are. Let's go to tryouts." The two headed out of the Residence towards the soccer field.

It was noon and Viola had only been at Illyria for three hours, but soccer tryouts were the first day of the school's orientation week. She was dressed in black baggy tear-aways and the smallest of Sebastian's hoodies she could find. She didn't want to wear a tee shirt because she was afraid of looking too measly. She didn't want the coach looking badly at her... him... right away.

"So I'm curious, what are you going to do when the coach tells you to take off your shirt and play for the Skin team?"

"I'm allergic to the sun," Viola said with a shrug. She had thought about that scenario on the car ride over with Paul this morning.

"Is that even possible?"

"Sure... I guess. So what are the tryouts going to be like?"

"Coach runs us real hard, you are going to die."

"Oh great."

Half an hour later, they had barely even begun the tryouts. Sure enough, Viola had to tell the coach she was allergic to the sun-deadly allergic, that is. It wasn't too bad, the coach had only called her a nancy boy and had offered, with dripping sarcasm, to run around with a parasol over her head. Coach was harsh, but that was expected of Coach of the top ranking high school soccer team in the district. They were still on warm-ups, currently doing a relay of 100 metre sprints – 100 metre dribbling around cones – 100 metre passing (to a teammate waiting at the mark for you) and then shooting into the goal. They had to do this twenty times. Twenty! Voila could feel the weight of her sweat and the fabric of her long pants and sweater slowing her down. There was an obstacle course set up on the other half of the field, and Voila was looking at it with dread... she had just finished her twentieth set, and now she ran after the other players, who were already getting in line for what looked like pure torture. More running, passing, cone-dodging and side stepping.

After an hour, Viola was completely wiped. Coach Dinklage blew his whistle, and called for a water break. She went over to the bench, and grabbed her water bottle- but just as she was about to sit down and give her legs a rest, Coach started explaining the rules to the series of practice games they would be playing for the next hour. She had barely taken another swig of water, when everyone began heading off to the field again. The games went alright, but Viola didn't have as many moves down as the rest of the guys trying out- especially the senior forwards. She would have to do some serious extra-curricular practicing.

At two o'clock, Viola thought the tryouts would be coming to an end- she could barely move, her legs felt like lead. The girl's team at Cornwall had never practiced this hard for this long. She was going to have to get into some serious shape if she wanted to play with boys. But she had made it through, which was pretty impressive. But then coach announced the 'conditioning assessment' portion of tryouts.

"Drop and give me as many push ups as you can! Move it ladies!"

Viola dropped no problem, she fell onto the grass, but couldn't move her arms to do any push ups. Her legs were muscular, and so was her back, from all the soccer on the beach she had played this summer, but her arms were _not _that strong.

_Come on Vi,_ she thought to herself, _you have got to do this! You haven't come here to give up and be cut off the short list! _She pushed herself off the ground, and got into push up position. She was so tempted to do the push ups on her knees, but assumed that would be a dead giveaway, they **are** called girl push ups after all. So she went up onto the balls of her feet, feet spread a little less than hip-width apart (hey, she was tired!) and arms ready. She did about thirty painful, excruciating dips, before the shaking in her arms became unbearable. Luckily, that was when Coach called them in. Practice was over. Thank god!

Coach gave the speech about first and second stringers all being a part of the team. Then he made a snide remark about second stringers not getting to play the actual game part of being on the team. If Viola's muscles were able to move, and if she wasn't nervous enough to puke, she would have smiled, or even laughed at that remark. She like the Illyria coach a lot better than her old coach at Cornwall, who was rude but in a stupid and obviously mean way. Dinklage had biting sarcasm, but he was smart about it- and he only ever told the truth- Viola could tell he was a good guy. That was, until she heard her brother's name called out.

"Sebastian Hastings, Second String!" She caught hold of the yellow jersey passed to her, and slowly looked at her feet.

_Second string. Second. I'm not going to be able to play. I won't have any field time- I won't be able to kick the ball in the upper left corner of the net, scoring on Justin, in the Cornwall-Illyria game. This was all for nothing. I thought I was good enough to play with the guys. I guess not._

Viola was thinking this as she shuffled off the field to the change room. Then she felt a nudge on her arm. She looked beside her to see Duke grinning down at her.

"Hey nancy boy, good work out there, for a girl. I was impressed! I didn't think you would be able to keep up like you did. Don't feel too bad about getting second string. I saw over coach's shoulder, and you were almost on the first stringer list- you may be able to get on the field this season if there are any injuries. I think it was those push ups that did you in. Weak."

"Thanks. At least it I didn't do girl push ups. I was considering it."

"That would have got you cut from even second string, that's for sure. Umm, are you planning on coming into the guys change room? Kind of brave, considering the looks of some of the new recruits."

Just then a junior ran past them, already stripping off his clothes. He was overweight, and his stomach bounced around as he ran and screamed, "Shower time!"

Viola winced, and tried to block out that particular mental image. "Not today, I think I'll pass," She said as she turned to head back to their residence, to try and sneak a shower there, but caught eyes with the Coach.

"Hastings! Principal Gold wants to see you in his office. Now."

Viola's breath caught in her throat, she turned back to look at Duke, but he had already gone into the change room. _Had Duke told the coach? The principal? Had Viola's parents realized she was missing and figured out where she had gone? What was going on? Was she found out already?_ Her mind went back to Duke. _He just reassured me, two seconds ago, he can't have told on me. Did he? _Viola couldn't believe she had entrusted her secret to someone she didn't even know!

Principal Gold's office had pretty standard "Headmaster of a School" decor. Trophies, the school crest, wooden panelled walls, filing cabinets. Viola did a double take; filing cabinets. She went over and pulled open the bottom drawer. It was the student records. Duke, she knew he had told her his last name before they went to practice... Duke... Orsonon... Something like that anyways. It definitely started with an 'O'. She began riffling through the student files, until she found what she was looking for.

'Orsino, Duke.' The file was fairly small, she opened it up carefully, resting the file on the open drawer. There were only two pages in his file. Funny, Viola was sure that Sebastian had mentioned he had like 30 pages in his. Hmm, well her twin was a screw up. She began reading.

Orsino, Duke. Class of 2007. Lives with father, mother deceased 2002. No siblings. Then there was a photo of Duke from freshman year. His face was a lot softer, but he didn't look too different. Below that were some handwritten notes. "Freshman Year: Mother deceased prior to enrolment at Illyria, very quiet, disengaged from student activity. Attended weekly meetings with campus psychiatrist from September to November 2003. Joined soccer team, and vastly improved in focus and drive. Average student, excels at sports."

Viola flipped to the next page and saw it was Duke's partial transcript, GPA 2.6, which was 0.3 points above the minimum for staying on the soccer team. Viola was about to read more- although she had probably already read far _far _too much- but she heard the door knob turning. She shoved the folder back in the drawer (it was definitely not back in its alphabetical order, but she didn't care) and she leapt away from the cabinet. Viola thought she would find something in Duke's file to prove his character- see if he would tell her secret to the coach or the headmaster. What she had found did neither, but it definitely shocked her.

Principal Gold entered the room, with a goofy grin on his face. He was the kind of guy who looked like a caricature of a person, and not a real person himself. He was bald, but made up for that with a hideous full beard and mustache. He wore giant glasses, a dorky red bowtie and a pocket square with his stuffy suit. This was the principal of the top ranked soccer school in the district?

"Hastings! Horatio Gold, Headmaster," he introduced himself with bravado in his voice, and a bow with his arms outspread.

Viola raised her eye brows. Was this guy for real?

"So very pleased to meet you," the headmaster continued, striding over to Viola, and offering his hand.

Viola took it, and cleared her throat ready to speak in her best imitation of Sebastian's voice, "Hello sir, I heard you wanted to see me?" Weird, Gold wasn't acting angry or furious, or confused- she had lied to his school, and wouldn't he think that was an embarrassment? He seemed overly friendly. Maybe he was putting on a front, getting ready for the kill. That must be it.

"I just wanted to welcome you to Illyria! Welcome! And to see how you're doing."

Relief washed over Viola. Sebastian was a problem student, it would make sense for Gold to want to check in on him, meet the trouble maker for himself. Viola played along, "Um, I'm good. I just tried out for the soccer team, actually. I made second string."

"That's great! Soccer, huh? Well. Congratulations. So, let's take a look at your file, shall we?"

This would be good- Sebastian's epic file. How many high schools had he been to? She had lost track. Her twin brother just didn't have his priorities in place. He was so obsessed with his band and his music. He wrote all the time for his band, he had notebooks and notebooks full of lyrics- but he had to repeat English last year! It didn't make any sense to her. She watched as Principal Gold pulled out Sebastian's file from the top drawer of the cabinet she had been snooping in only moments ago. Wow. It was absolutely overflowing. Thirty pages in his file? Clearly a lot had been added to it since her brother told her that figure. Gold put the file on his desk, then turned around to face Viola again.

"Okay, you're busted."

Viola's heart stopped. _It had been a front, and now he was coming in for the kill. It must have been Duke. He must of told the coach, who told Gold, and that's why he didn't say much about the news of Sebastian trying out for soccer._ _It's over._

"I know you don't want to sit here and talk to the headmaster but I'm not going to take no for an answer! You can sit in my headmaster chair! That's right, you heard me- go ahead, have a sit!"

Viola's heart restarted. He was trying to be funny. Viola wasn't busted at all. The rest of the meeting went by in a blur, and Viola bolted out of there as fast as humanly possible when it was through. In her haste to get out of the office, she bumped into a blonde girl when she turned the corner. She knocked them both down, and the girl's books went everywhere.

"Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going!" Viola apologized.

"Oh, no, it's okay- don't worry about it," the girl said as she smiled at Viola. She was pretty, the kind of girl who Viola could tell she would be instant friends with. And she had killer shoes on!

Gold's door opened and he stepped out of his office, he must have seen the spill. He was stuttering some awkward sentences about teenage love, and abstinence before muttering and turning around to go back to the safety of his office.

"Is this guy for _real_?_" _Viola asked; she still couldn't get her head around this character of a principal. Seriously, how did this man run a school?

"Oh yeah," the girl laughed. "You'll get used to it." The two stood up, and Viola passed her the stack of books she had recovered from the ground.

"Cute shoes by the way!"

"Oh you think so? Thanks. I got them at Anthropology!"

"No way! They have shoes there?!" _Oh shit, I should not have said that, back track, back track! What do I say?! I'm supposed to be a guy! And my voice was definitely high pitched enough to be a ditzy valley girl._

"Yeah, right beside the accessories."

"Um, so here are you books," Viola said in a voice two octaves lower. "I guess I'll go and take care of some... guy stuff..." She darted away without a second look, or even learning the girl's name.

_Yeah, take care of some guy stuff, like freaking remembering to __**be**__ a guy! And I was worried Duke had told on me, wow. I need to be more worried about myself right now, clearly! I cannot believe that just happened. The funniest part about it too, was that she didn't even realize I was acting weird. She didn't make any weird expressions or anything. Huh._

When Viola got back to her room she was glad to see that Duke was alone, and didn't have any friends over. The bandages were coming off. "Turn around," she told him.

"Woah, don't get naked or anything!"

"Ha ha, very funny. Turn around."

Duke did as he was told, turning slightly red again. Facing the wall, he asked, "So, how did it go? Does the principal know you're a girl yet?"

"Nope, but I doubt he would notice much. That guy is a nut job!"

"Seriously, dude! I know, right? You should hear him and Coach talking, I swear he would take Gold's head right off if they had to stay in the same room for more than two minutes."

"I don't think anyone would blame him. Okay, you can turn around now." Viola threw her bandages at Duke's face. She now wore a comfortable bra and one of Sebastian's wife beaters over it, she had torn off her tearaways, and was now wearing plaid boy's boxers.

"And now my roommate is half dude half girl. Wow, I'm one lucky guy."

"Oh right, the wig." Viola pulled off her Sebastian hair and sideburns and placed them on her bedside table. She then reached under the bed, and pulled out her box of 'all things girl', and rummaged through it until finding a hair elastic. She threw her hair up into a ponytail.

It was four thirty, and they had an hour before dinner was served in the cafeteria. She wanted to get to know Duke better. Clearly there was more to him than good looks and soccer skills.

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**Please Read & Review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Got Your Back**

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**Author's Notes:**_I know this chapter is a bit shorter, but I wanted to give everyone something to read! I hope you enjoy, and please please review the chapter if you read it- I want to know what you like, and how I should improve. Also, I am looking for a Beta Reader of two, if you are interested, please PM me.__** Xo, K.  
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**Chapter Three**

Viola turned towards Duke, and cocked her head to the side. "So roomie, I know I'm not going to be here for too long, at the best I won't get caught and I'll be here for just two weeks. But we should still get to know each other."

"Um, what do you want to know?"

"Whatever! Anything and everything," Viola smiled. "Why don't we ask each other random questions?"

Duke cut in hastily, "I'll go first. Who's your favourite soccer player?"

"Uh... okay, worst question ever, there are a ton of them."

"Pick one," Duke challenged.

" Okay, let's see- Mia Hamm. She revolutionized women's soccer- made it more popular, and she scored the most goals out of women **and** men in her career. Plus she was the youngest women to win the FIFA World Cup Championship at nineteen!"

"Yeah, you gotta love Mia. She's sort of an inspiration to you, huh? I'm pretty sure she's getting inducted into the Hall of Fame next year."

"She better, she deserves it! I can't see how she wouldn't get the votes. Okay, my turn- favourite athlete besides soccer."

"Easy. Sharapova," Duke mimed grabbing and squeezing a butt with his hands, and winked at Viola.

"Ew, Duke!" She chucked a pillow at his face, "Seriously? Come on!"

"No, I'm just kidding. She's super talented too." Viola rolled her eyes at Duke, although she did know her roommate was kidding. Seeing the forgiveness, Duke continued, "Um, do you know who Danny Kass is? That man is sick!"

"Yes! He's my favourite snowboarder of all time, I watch the X Games every winter! I wish I could do the half pipe like he does, with his backside rodeo, oh man."

"The Kassarole? I think you'd crack your head open. So you board?" Duke asked Viola with interest.

"Yeah, when we were younger my parents took my brother and I for a week long ski trip on March Break to this hoity toity, members only Chalet. My mom barely even skis! They would sign us up for lessons to get rid of us, so each year my brother and I would go to the ski school office and switch our lessons to snowboarding. Then, one year the guy at the desk was Sebastian's buddy, and he let us cancel our lessons. We used the refund money to buy boards and boots. It was sweet! My parents didn't even care."

"That's hilarious. But wait, your parents- Cornwall isn't a boarding school- where do they think you are right now?"

"Oh my parents aren't together anymore, they divorced when I was twelve. So I told my mom I was at my dad's house, and my dad I was at my mom's house. They barely speak, unless they are forced to attend some activity we do. It's pretty funny actually."

"Aw, dude, you could get away with anything so easily. I mean, not that my dad is super strict at all. He kind of does is own thing, and works a hell of a lot ever since... Umm, ever since my mum died... but, whatever, he's a good guy."

Now it was my turn to blush. I really shouldn't have looked at Duke's record, I felt like such a horrible person right now.

"I'm sorry, that must have been really hard. I can't even imagine..." Viola trailed off.

"Hey, no no, it's okay. It's been a few years, it was hard but I'm still here. But anyways; favourite movie?"

"Oh, that's hard!" Viola was glad Duke changed the subject. "Okay, my obvious favourite is Bend it Like Beckham."

"Of course! What's the not so obvious one?"

"Ever After... it's Cinderella basically, with Drew Barrymore. But she's so smart and strong, and challenges the prince. It's so good."

"Well I can't say I've seen it, but strong women are sexy." Duke looked at Viola, and she could have sworn there was a twinkle in his eye, he lifted the corner of his lip in a small smile, then looked down.

Now it was her turn to blush. All of a sudden Viola felt an energy in the room. With that look Duke had created an electric current between the two. Viola's heart fluttered and she grasped for words. _He is so unbelievable hot, and a good guy. He is becoming more attractive by the second... _Viola's head blanked. _What am I supposed to say? Another question, ask another question._

"What's your type of girl?" _Not that question! Why did I you ask that, ugh! I don't want to know!_

"Uh..." Duke suddenly had a dumb puppy look on his face, and Viola wasn't sure what it meant. Was he afraid to answer the question and offend her? Did he like her? Viola realized she suddenly didn't even know if he had a girlfriend, but he would have said something because he was living with her. There was no way a girlfriend would put up with that. Viola's thought were interrupted by Duke, he had finally put his thoughts together. "Actually, I'm totally horrible around girls, I can't even start a conversation with them. It's horrible."

"Uh Duke, unlike what I'm trying to get everyone else here to believe... I'm a girl! And you've been talking to me. You can't be_ that_ bad!"

"Ha, yeah that's true. I don't know why it's different with you. I guess it's cause you shocked me so much... I mean, you're unlike anyone I've ever met. I dunno. But trust me it **is** brutal. All the guys joke about it on the team. Seriously, I haven't had a girlfriend, I can't get up the courage to ask girls out."

Unbeknownst to her, Viola's jaw dropped. She was shocked. Duke had never had a girlfriend? How was that even possible? He is such a catch! And he didn't have problems talking with her... but was that because he thought of her as a friend? Saw her as a 'guy on the team'? If Duke had problems talking with girls in general, let alone girls he liked, there was no way he thought of her like that. Or maybe she was different in a good way, maybe she and Duke were meant to meet and ... Viola realized her mouth was hanging open, and snapped it shut. She could not think this way!

"What? What?!" Duke had seen her moment of shock.

"Ha, uh nothing, I just can't believe you've never had a girlfriend, you're so... well, I thought you'd have them lined up."

"Yeah, well. You thought wrong. I just never know how to approach girls. They're not all as talkative as you."

"Hey!" Viola was offended, she didn't think Duke meant that in a good way, but he was quick to ease her indignation.

"It's a good thing!"

"Okay, thanks... It's just I've been told by so many people I'm a blabber mouth and that I just need to shut up sometimes."

"Well it's only been one day, I reserve the right to ask you to shut up." Duke sent another dazzling grin towards Viola, and she swooned.

_Swooned? Ugh, I can't believe I just swooned. These butterflies need to __**go away**__. I need to focus on soccer, and on getting better so I can play! _She mentally shook herself.

"Well before you get tired of hearing me talk, why don't we go eat?"

"Sounds good, um are you going like that?"

Viola had gotten up to leave, but realized with Duke's words that she was wearing boxers... even if she could pass off as a friend visiting the school, she could not go out wearing boy's underwear. It would definitely be a scandal. "I guess I'll go change..."

Duke lead the way to the guy's washroom, his own suggestion, Viola hadn't even thought of it. He checked to see if anyone was in there. The way was all clear, and Viola snuck into a stall. When she was changed, she and Duke headed outside, and crossed the Campus Quad to get to the cafeteria.

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**Please Read & Review!**

**Coming Up in Chapter Four****... **_**'Sebastian' sits through an awkward and hilarious meal with Duke and his friends, and meets Olivia –officially. Will Duke still have a crush on her? Will there be jealousy and rivalry between them or confused crushes?**__**Then the gang is invited to the first party of the school year. Will Viola go as herself or Sebastian?  
**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Got Your Back**

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**Author's Notes:**_Thanks so much for all the reviews, and for adding this story to your favourites and watches! Also, please visit my author profile for updates on new chapters. I hope you enjoy this chapter because it took a lot of work to put together.  
__**I would also like to thank my wonderful Beta St DAY.**__ (You rock!)  
The chapter begins with some fun goofy stuff but there is a very intense scene towards the end, so please be prepared for that. There are almost 500 hits on the story which is very exciting but I would love more it if everyone who read it actually reviewed! So after you read please click on Review and let me know what you think. Enjoy!__** Xo, K.**_

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**Chapter Four**

Viola and Duke were heading to the caf, where they were meeting Duke's friends, Andrew and Toby. When the two got to the big red doors that lead inside, Duke held the door open for Viola, and she walked in with Duke right behind her. The caf was big, spacious and decorated in red black and white, just like the rest of Illyria Preparatory. To the right of the doors was the Cafeteria line up.

She turned to face Duke, and asked "So do I have to prepare myself for an unidentifiable dinner of mush, or is the food here actually good?"

Duke chuckled, and shook his head. "Naw, the food here is pretty good- it's all healthy, but then you can choose your own sides and drinks. There's still soda and chips and stuff if you're in the mood for junk food. Coach would kill you though, if he saw you drinking soda. He says it's liquid Satan."

"How often is the coach in the cafeteria?"

"Uh, never. Why?"

"Because I'm in the mood for some liquid Satan." Viola elbowed Duke, as he laughed at her.

The two were at the counter now, and Headmaster Gold was serving the food today. Viola, truly confused as to why the headmaster was working in the caf, accepted a sandwich and apple, and choked out a thank you. Duke did the same, without the confusion. They walked to the Fruitopia and Pepsi refrigerators to grab some drinks, and were out of ear shot of the headmaster.

Duke was beside himself laughing as he grabbed an Arizona Iced Tea. "He's such a tool!"

"Gold?" Viola assumed.

"Yeah! I mean, he does all these ridiculous things saying he's connecting with the students, but he's not! He's just serving us our food."

"At least he's trying?" Viola suggested.

"Truth. Hey, Toby and Andrew are at a table already, in the middle, you see? Let's go sit with them."

Duke led the way to a table where two incredibly good looking guys were sitting, laughing and joking around. Viola recognized them from soccer tryouts. They were great at tryouts, but neither as skilled as Duke.

"Hey guys," Duke said as they walked up to the table, putting their trays down and taking a seat. "This is my new roommate, Sebastian. Sebastian, Toby and Andrew."

"Hi guys, what's up? I remember you from soccer tryouts," Viola introduced herself in as manly a way as possible.

Toby was first to speak up, "Uh hey, so you're a Senior? Seriously?" Viola could tell he looked skeptical of her age because of her size. It did look like she skipped puberty.

"I um, skipped a few grades." Duke laughed at that answer, and Andrew took that as a cue that it was okay to pick on Sebastian.

"So I didn't notice you at tryouts. What? Gave up and got second string?"

Viola cringed at Andrew's commentary. She didn't know why he was picking on her, so she tried to put a positive spin on it. "So those soccer tryouts were bogus, huh? I mean they were so unnecessarily brutal!"

All three boys, looked at one another, about to burst out laughing, and Toby snickered under his breath.

Viola tried another tactic to divert the conversation, "so the game against Cornwall, that should be interesting, right?"

Duke smirked, caught Viola's gaze, tilted his head, and asked "So why should that be interesting?" Viola thought he might have been pushing her, because he knew that the game against Cornwall should be very interesting, considering that if all went according to plan there would be a girl on the team, dressed as a guy. She thought Duke was seeing if she could come up with a good excuse while staying in character.

So Viola cleared her throat deliberately, and announced to Toby and Andrew, "Well, my sister goes there, and she used to date that tool Justin Drayton."

Andrew laughed in recognition, "Dude, that was the guy you made cry last year! Oh whatever, we are so going to crush them into the ground this time around!"

All of them laughed appreciatively and then Toby snapped his head toward Viola. "So is your sister hot?"

Viola glanced over at Duke, who was suddenly very still. Viola didn't know what that meant and then she saw a red tint creeping from his neck into his cheeks. Did Duke think she was hot? Did Viola care? Had she answered Toby's question yet? Viola tried to refocus on her charade. "Uh... I guess so... She's got a great personality." Viola cringed as soon as those words came out of her mouth. _A guy would so not say that!_

Duke snorted and ice tea came out of his nose, as Toby and Andrew shouted with confusion and disgust, and moved as far from Sebastian as possible, their bodies shaking with laughter.

"Man, what the hell does that mean?" Andrew assaulted Sebastian.

Viola pulling herself back together shrugged and defended her position, "She's my sister, dude, ew!"

The three seemed to accept that, and Duke nodded in approval. Viola had said something right, finally.

Then Toby ducked his head in towards the center of the table, and with a strangled whisper and cough said "Incoming!" and nodded to the direction of the food line.

The pretty blonde girl Viola had accidentally bumped into outside of Gold's office was standing in line with her friend. Viola smiled to herself, knowing that these guys were crazy over her.

"Check out the bootie on that blondie," Viola teased, as she mimed squeezing an ass with her hands. Viola was repeating what Duke did when he was talking about Maria Sharapova earlier in their room. She wondered if he would get the reference.

Duke looked at her with recognition in his eyes, and pointed at her chest. "Hey, don't talk about her that way,"

Viola smiled, wanting to tease her roommate. "Oh is that your girlfriend?"

"Aha, he wishes!" Toby chortled.

Viola looked down at her empty plate. So Duke actually had a crush on this girl. She was absolutely stunning, kind and Duke liked her. Viola was nothing compared to her, she was short awkward and had plain brown hair. She should have known Duke would never go for her and that he only thought of her as one of the guys. Viola was so wrapped up in her disappointment, that it took a second until she realized Andrew was talking.

"Her name is Olivia, and until recently she was dating this college guy, but he dumped her, and I heard she's a total mess right now, totally vulnerable, confidence sucked right out of her. Self esteem is way down."

Viola looked over at her, and realized this was true. When Olivia caught the glances all the guys in the caf were throwing at her, she would look down, shy and upset. Viola felt for her, she felt the same way when she had broken up with Justin. Upset because the guy who looked at her like she was beautiful didn't actually see her as an equal.

"In other words, it's time to pounce!" Toby enthused

Andrew agreed excitedly, and the two high-fived right in front of Viola's face, snapping her out of her reverie.

"Uh, um, she's coming over here," Duke stuttered in alarm, as Olivia set her food down at a table nearby, and continued to walk over to the group.

Olivia stopped when she reached their table, and threw her long blonde hair over her shoulders, standing with on hand on her hips. "Hey guys," she said casually to the three Illyria seniors. "Um, we haven't officially met," She said to Viola.

"No, we haven't. I'm Sebastian. And sorry again for crashing into you in the hall."

"No! It's fine," she said, batting her eyelashes. "So, I was wondering if you guys were going to the Jocks' house party tonight. I was sort of nominated to spread the word around campus."

"Yeah!" Toby nodded his head fervently.

"We're so there!" Andrew agreed.

"Good," Olivia smiled at Sebastian, "Ten o'clock, house 4A. Be there!" She winked at Sebastian, and turned on her heels, to go sit down and eat her supper.

Duke's mouth was hanging open, and Andrew and Toby laughed at him.

"Dude! You're so lame! I don't think you've said more than five words to her in the three years that you've gone to school together."

Recovering from the female presence, Duke snarled at his friends, "Shut up you guys! Whatever!"

After dinner, the four headed back upstairs together. Andrew and Toby lived next door, and Viola hadn't even realized. She would have to be careful about slipping in and out of her costume. When her and Duke were safely in their room, she removed the disguise, and reached under her bed for her stash of girl things. She was so sick of wearing Sebastian's heavy, oversized clothing and wanted to change into something more comfortable. She banished Duke from the room, and changed into a pair of dark blue Abercrombie boot cut jeans, which comfortable sat low on her waist, and a cute turquoise racer back tank from Hollister. She threw her hair up into a clip as Duke re-entered the room.

"Hey, you look good," Duke said, almost subconsciously as he walked into the room.

"Thanks, I look like myself for once!"

"What?! You mean you don't usually look like a prepubescent boy?" Duke joked.

"So dinner was pretty brutal," Viola admitted. She was thinking about Andrew and Toby picking on her, and at the introduction of Olivia... Duke's crush.

"You almost blew it there,_ girl_. But you saved yourself in the end."

"Hey! I wasn't the only one embarrassing myself at dinner. What about you, with O-o-liv-v-via!" Viola mocked a stutter in her voice, pretending to act scared. Duke threw his pillow at her, as he had walked around to take a seat on his bed.

"I told you I can't talk to girls!"

"Why not? You're Hot!!" Viola exclaimed. She didn't understand him, he was so good looking how could a girl ever reject him? They probably thought he wasn't interested in anyone at the school, that he was arrogant- when in reality he was petrified with shyness.

"Uh, what?"

Viola blushed, well... it was true! "Well, you are good looking! And a star on the football team. You really have nothing to worry about. Girls would go crazy if you talked to them."

"Oh yeah?" Duke smirked at Viola, "Do you go crazy?"

"Um Duke, no offence- but I already am crazy. Have you met me? You're the only one who actually knows what I'm really up to. Crazy. Me. Already." Viola covered, without answering the question.

Then, Viola had an idea. Duke was doing Viola a huge favour, bigger than she could imagine, by covering for her. She would help Duke talk to girls, talk to Olivia, in exchange. She would have to swallow her budding crush- but that didn't matter. She shouldn't be crushing on him anyways. Viola looked around the room for a costume, and found a bright yellow Nike t-shirt hanging off the back of Duke's desk chair. She grabbed it and held it out; it was a Lance Armstrong shirt and said 'livestrong' in all capitals across the front.

"Nice shirt," Viola nodded. Then she draped the shirt over her head, and flicked it back with her hand, pretending it was hair.

"Uh- what are you doing?" Duke asked in confusion.

"Okay, so I have an idea. I'll help you practice talking to girls, so that way you'll actually be able to say a complete _and _coherent sentence around Olivia." When Viola said her name, she batted her eyelashes and struck a Marilyn Monroe pose.

Duke laughed, "You really are crazy!"

"Hey, don't insult me, you_ need_ me." Viola countered.

"Okay, what do I do?" Duke got up from his bed, and stood facing Viola with about an arm's length between them.

"Hi Duke," Viola said in a valley girl voice- not that Olivia was like that, but she wanted to change her voice to distinguish herself from the character. "Nice to meet you!"

"Um, hi. Nice to meet you too?"

"Was that a question?" Viola asked, as herself. "Come on! If the chemistry is right, conversation will just start flowing! Just ask questions."

Duke shook his head, he had no idea how to start, "Questions like what?"

"Anything!" Viola said exasperated; how was a hot guy so shy? Usually athletes had pure confidence. "Ask me if I like... cheese!"

"Cheese?" Duke snorted.

Viola glared at him. It was the first thing she could come up with.

"Okay, okay, do you like, um cheese?"

"Why yes I do! Gouda is my favourite."

"Um, I like Gouda too?" Then Duke smiled, and cocked his head to the side. "But it isn't a party without havarti."

"Well, that's true sometimes- but you can have a party without havarti, _however_ you can't have a party without you, Duke." Viola batted her eyelashes again, and gave a dramatic sigh.

Duke laughed, and took a step closer, "Why thank you, but I don't know if I can come to your party if you're planning on wearing this." Duke reached over and gently pulled the t-shirt off of Viola's head. He smiled, and threw the shirt back onto his chair, without looking. "You really are crazy, you know that?"

"Mmhmm," Viola responded, unable to say anything, her eyes were staring into Duke's, unable to move, and her brain was unable to think of anything else. Viola leaned in closer, then suddenly the door to their room slammed open, and Toby and Andrew entered.

"Duke, Sebastian, let's go—oh, man!" Toby saw Duke and Viola standing inches apart, and felt bad for interrupting something.

In embarrassment Viola and Duke sprang away from each other, both turning a deep shade of red.

"Knock first, man!" Duke yelled at his friends.

Andrew sauntered into the room, pushing Toby out of the way, "Hi, I'm Andrew," he introduced himself to Viola, "I haven't seen you around before."

"Hi, I'm um, Viola." Viola looked over to Duke, but he was looking down at the floor. "I'm Sebastian's sister. Sebastian had to go home tonight for a band practice, but Duke said that he could show me around campus, and that you guys were going to a party?"

"Uh, yeah, that's right. I didn't think you guys would mind?" Duke played along.

Toby and Andrew gaped at their friend. They couldn't believe what they were seeing, a girl in Duke's room, alone with him... they must have seriously underestimated their buddy.

"Of course not, man! Let's go! You ready, Viola?" Toby asked with a giant grin plastered on his face.

"Yeah, sure! Um, where is the party?" Viola asked Toby, who was clearly checking her out. She looked behind her to make sure Duke was following as the four of them left the room and headed outside.

As they were walking across campus, Andrew explained where they were going, "So it's at townhouse 4A. Those are the senior townhouse residences; it's a small community just off campus, across the street of the main campus."

Toby laughed at Andrew's formal tour guiding. "He leads student tours for his work study position," he explained.

"It's good money for like half an hour every week!" Andrew defended himself and then continued. "Anyways, mostly football players live there because it's closer to the fields- there are four of them across the street, so it's more convenient for them to live there. There are also some all female houses with cheerleaders."

"They're so lucky! Aren't you guys jealous they get sweet townhouses and the soccer team is shafted with rez?"

"Naw, it's cool," Duke said. "We get to party here, that's all that counts. I don't wanna cook for myself anyways."

Viola laughed at that as they crossed the street. She could see about five townhouses all clumped together at the end of one street. One of them, she assumed this was where they were heading, had strobe lights on inside one of the rooms, and a whole bunch of white fairy lights outside on the trees. The door was open, and loud music was playing, although she could only hear the thudding bass from the other end of the street.

"Um, are you guys drinking tonight?" Viola asked nervously. She could feel her stomach knotting, suddenly worried about what would happen tonight and who would be there. Viola had been to some house parties with her Cornwall friends before but she always knew everyone there. She never got too drunk- only slightly tipsy so she could dance as much as she wanted to without feeling like a fool. Besides, Viola was a serious lightweight.

"Probably," Duke answered, seeing Viola's nerves. "We don't have practice tomorrow. It's our only day off. Plus they're supplying the booze. It's crazy how much stuff they buy! Only the first party of the year though, after that it's BYOB."

They were at the end of the street now, walking up to the house. There were a few people outside getting some air, and Toby recognized one of them, and gave him props. Viola could recognize the music now, 'Temperature' by Sean Paul had just come on. They walked in the house, and it was absolutely packed. The lights were off, except for the main hallway light, and more small white fairy lights strung along the walls and up the banister of the stairs. Duke walked in front of Viola, pushing through the crowd of people. Most of them knew him and said hi, then stepped out of the way. There was a staircase in the entrance hall, and rooms to the left and right. Straight ahead was the kitchen, where Duke was leading Viola.

The kitchen was crammed with people, but they soon made their way to the centre of the room. A big rectangular wooden table was completely covered with bottles of alcohol- Bacardi Rum, Smirnoff Vodka, Peach Schnapps, Limoncello, Viola was totally shocked. It must have cost the jocks an absolute fortune!

"So what do you want to drink?" Duke asked Viola, as he grabbed two red plastic party cups.

"Surprise me!"

Duke mixed Raspberry Sourpuss with Peach flavoured Vodka, and topped it off with some Sprite. He handed that to Viola and then made a rum and coke for himself. Viola took a sip and smiled with pleasure.

"That's good! Not too sweet either!" Viola chugged it in two giant gulps while Duke watched with wide eyes. "What?" she asked, "Got to get the buzz going!"

"Umm, just be careful, okay?" Duke asked worriedly. He had never particularly paid attention to the way girls drank, but he knew they had a lower alcohol tolerance than most guys. He didn't want her to get sick, or worse.

Viola nodded to him, as she grabbed a Smirnoff Ice. There were a pile of glow sticks next to the bottles and she grabbed a blue one, snapped it and put it in her drink. The clear drink now glowed blue in the dim light of the kitchen.

Duke smiled, and nodded his head towards where the music was coming from. They entered the living room, and were immediately swept onto the dance floor. Well, Viola was - Duke snuck off to the side, where he started talking with some of his buddies from the soccer team.

There were a lot of gorgeous girls dancing; most were wearing miniskirts and halter tank tops. _These must be the cheerleaders_, Viola thought. _Oh well!_ 'Hips Don't Lie' by Shakira started playing, and she started swaying to the music with her arms in the air, one hand holding up her drink. Then, Viola saw Olivia on the dance floor, and shimmied over to her.

"Hey!" She shouted over the music and crowd.

"Hey! Do I know you?" Olivia shouted back. She was definitely a bit drunk.

_Oops_, Viola thought. Olivia had never met her as Viola. "I'm Sebastian's sister!" she shouted back.

"Cool! I'm Olivia."

"Viola!" she shouted into Olivia's ear.

"This song is great, huh?"

"Yeah!" Viola agreed. It _was_ a fun song, and now that she had a friend at the party to dance with she was more comfortable. The two started belly dancing together, and singing along.

"Shakira, Shakira!" They both drunkenly sang at the end of the song.

_I'm bringing sexy back, yeah! Them other boys don't know how to act..._ Justin Timberlake's song came on next, and people rushed the dance floor. Everyone was pushed up against one another, hips were swaying, and hands were in the air. Then, Viola felt a pair of hands around her waist, and a guy grinding behind her. She started dancing along, their bodies meshed together- Viola was a bit tipsy, apparently. Then Olivia made a face, and gave Viola a look that said to get rid of him. Viola pulled away, and felt the hands drop from her sides. She turned around to see a tall blonde boy she didn't recognize turn around to find another girl.

"Hey, do you wanna get another drink?" Olivia asked Viola, pulling her off the dance floor. As they pushed their way to the kitchen, Viola finished her drink and put the empty bottle on the staircase. In the hallway, they could see into the dining room- where there was a girl lying on the table, and a crowd of guys gathered around.

"Oh my gosh! Body shots already?" Olivia gushed, as she pulled Viola into the room. "It's so funny- all the cheerleaders pull up their shirts and lie on the table, and then the guys from the football team do a tequila shot off of their body. It's sort of like the way they claim each other, because whoever does the shot together always end up dating! And of course, they save the head cheerleader and the football captain for last. Oh, and other drunk girls get on the table too! That's Sabrina." She said, pointing to the pretty red head on the table right now.

She rolled her pink tank top off her stomach, put salt there, placed a tequila shot in her cleavage and a lime in her mouth facing out. A really good looking, built guy went up to her. He had short brown hair and really gorgeous green eyes. All the guys cheered him on, and the girls were clapping and laughing. Viola and Olivia giggled, and joined in the cheering. Then the guy licked the salt off Sabrina's stomach, took the shot, and bit into the lime in her mouth. Then, he spit out the lime onto the table, and kissed Sabrina.

"And there you have it Viola, the mating rituals of the jocks and sluts!" Olivia giggled, and stumbled forwards a bit.

Then, an absolutely giant blond jock stood on a chair, and yelled "Shots for the girls!"

Viola and Olivia were pushed forward by the guys in the room, and were given plastic shot glasses full of tequila, and a lime. There were about ten girls doing shots, and they all passed around two salt shakers. When Viola was given it she licked her hand and sprinkled salt right under her thumb on the side of her hand. Then, after all the girls had their shots ready, the group counted down.

"3, 2, 1, Tequila!" They screamed, and took their shots.

Ugh! Viola made a face, and put the lime in her mouth, biting into it as hard as she could. She hated the taste of tequila so much, but it was hard liquor and got the job done quickly! Plus tequila shots were so much fun!

"Okay! Dancing?" Olivia asked Viola.

"Yeah, but wait, wait-" Viola slurred out, "Who was that guy dancing with me? Was he a super creeper?"

"Ew, yes! That was Malcolm. He's a total sleaze and creeper. Seriously, avoid him at all costs."

"I will!" Viola agreed. "Let's Dance!"

When they got back into the dance room, Viola looked around for Duke. She hadn't seen him for a while, and felt bad for totally ditching him. Mind you, it's not like they came _together_ together. But she wanted to spend some time with him. She found him in the corner with Andrew, a beer in his hand. Viola saw that Olivia had started dancing with some friends so she snuck away into the corner. As Viola walked toward them, Andrew stood up and went on the dance floor.

"How's the party?" She asked Duke.

"Pretty good, all the guys from the team are here. Where have you been? Meeting all the jocks of the school?"

"Oh please, jocks? Don't insult me!" Viola giggled, and flirtingly pushed Duke's shoulder with one hand. _Oh I am so drunk_, a voice in the back of her head said, but she barely noticed. "I was hanging out with Olivia, we're friends now!"

"That's fun." Duke laughed, then looked around to see if Olivia was behind Viola.

"Oh my gosh! They were doing body shots!" Viola pressed her body against Duke's, grabbing his forearms with both hands.

Duke grinned. He was obviously a little drunk himself, because he didn't blush and back away like he normally would. "Did you do one?"

Viola shook her head and returned the grin, "Nope- you weren't there."

"If you wanted me to take off my shirt, you could just ask."

"What's the fun in that?" Viola asked.

Then, she stood on her tiptoes, and leaned in towards Duke's face, looking into his eyes. But Duke blinked, and moved his face to the side and whispered in her ear.

"Not right now, you're drunk, Vi. Let's dance."

He pulled Viola onto the dance floor, and they began swaying to John Mayer's 'Waiting on the World to Change'. He grabbed Viola's hand, pulling her into his chest, and then he spun her around, one arm over her head. The dancing had distracted Viola from feeling rejected because of the missed kiss. For the whole song, they danced together only inches apart and rarely breaking eye contact. Neither noticed that the song had changed until Viola felt a large hand on her shoulder.

"Do you mind if I cut in?" Viola looked towards the voice and saw a pair of dark green, sparkling eyes. It was the jock that she had watched do a body shot. He didn't wait for an answer from Duke, and pulled Viola into his arms. It was another slow song, and Viola was listening to the Blue October lyrics, not quite focused on what was happening.

_Come back and shine just like it used to be and then she whispered "How could you did this to me?"_

The guy Viola was dancing with put his hand on the back of her neck, and lowered his other arm to the small of her back. "My name's Pete," he said into her ear.

"I'm Viola," she said in a soft voice. Viola's head was spinning from the alcohol, and she was surprised she was still on her feet. Then Viola stumbled a bit and stepped on Pete's foot. "Sorry, I'm not usually this clumsy."

"No worries, I'm a strong guy, I can take it." Pete smiled down at Viola. She saw something in his eyes that she couldn't place, it seemed like a desire or a hunger, but she wasn't sure and just shook the thought away and kept dancing.

Then the song changed to an upbeat track, 'Dani California'. Viola decided she had been dancing with Pete long enough and was about to look for Duke again. Then suddenly she heard screaming and yelling from the middle of the dance floor and she and Pete were pushed back while a clearing formed.

Two cheerleaders were shoving each other and pulling one another's hair. They were having a shouting match about some guy, and they were being brutal. All the guys were egging them on, and the girls were trying to break it up with no success.

"You kissed him, bitch!" One girl screamed.

"I kissed him? So what, you've_ slept_ with him, you slut!" Viola didn't even think the guy they were screaming about was in the room.

"So what? He's my boyfriend you skank!"

"He's your EX boyfriend! And he wasn't your boyfriend when you slept with him!"

Then, one girl ripped the other's shirt by pulling at it from the bottom, leaving her in her bra. The shirtless girl let out a guttural scream of rage and jumped on her opponent, bringing the fight to the floor. Viola watched in shock, not knowing how to react. Pete's arm was still on her lower back, and he began leading her away from the commotion.

"Come on, Viola. Let's get you out of here."

Viola barely realized what was happening, and where he was taking her. As she walked out of the room, faces weren't looking at them; they were all turned to watch the cat fight going on. All she knew was that she was going up a set of stairs, which had people lining the side of it and they were all making out. They got to the landing upstairs and then Pete opened a door and they entered a room Viola hadn't been in before. That was when she clued in. It was a bedroom.

"Pete, no, I want to go back downstairs, it's okay, the fights probably over, I'm drunk, I don't think we should be here..." Viola tried desperately to talk her way out of this situation, but now she was sitting on the bed somehow, facing Pete. He grabbed her head, and kissed her harshly and deeply, his lips pressing into hers hard.

Viola freed her hands from Pete's embrace and tried to shove his chest away. She broke the kiss, but he only pulled her in harder this time. His arm was around her back holding her in place and pinning down her arms, and his other hand was placed on the back of her head, while she wriggled to no avail. Pete slowly kissed her chest, her collarbone, her neck. He was moving up towards her lips again. Viola could smell the alcohol of his breath. Then he kissed her jaw and trailed his lips over her face, landing on her lips. She kept her lips tightly shut while he kissed her. Viola could feel tears welling up in her eyes.

_What have I done? How far is he going to go? I'm not strong enough to fight him off and I'm too drunk to even have a chance at defending myself._

___Then Viola felt her body being pushed down to the bed. Pete rolled on top of her. __No, this cannot be happening! No, No, No! ____She screamed in her head, but no sounds came out of her mouth, as her lips were still being smothered by Pete's._

___Viola began kicking and flailing as hard as she could. She wasn't going to let this happen while she was still conscious. __No way. This guy may weigh two hundred pounds, but he couldn't control her._

All of a sudden she couldn't feel Pete on her anymore; he had been pulled away. There was no weight on her at all. Viola immediately curled into the fetal position. After a few seconds when she felt nothing else, she slowly sat up still keeping her legs tucked in close and her arms wrapped around them. She lifted her head up and saw Duke standing in front of her, and Pete lying still on the floor against the wall with a bright red cheek and a bleeding nose. Duke must have thrown him off of her, punched him and knocked him unconscious.

"Viola!" Duke gasped and gathered her up in his arms, hugging her to his chest tightly. "Are you okay, did he do anything to you?"

Viola couldn't speak, she gulped and tried to tell Duke that he had saved her, but nothing came out. Tears poured down her cheeks, and Duke sat down beside her and gently wiped them away with the side of his hand. "I tried to find you after the fight settled down, but I didn't see you. Then when I realized Pete was missing too, I knew something was wrong. I'm so glad I got here in time."

Viola threw her arms around Duke and squeezed as tightly as she could. She rested her head on his shoulder, her tears leaving a wet spot on his t-shirt.

"Come on," Duke whispered. "Let's get you home." Duke stood up and then helped Viola do the same. He put an arm around her waist, and Viola reached for his opposite hand to hold. Duke gladly offered it.

As Duke supported Viola down the stairs Olivia rushed up the steps to meet them half way. "Oh my gosh, Viola! Is she okay, Duke?"

"Yeah, she'll be fine. I'm taking her to my room." Duke replied, without stuttering. He was concentrating only on Viola.

"Do you need help?"

"No, it's okay, I got it. But thanks, Olivia." She nodded and went back to the dance room where her friends were waiting.

Duke scooped up Viola in his arms, lifting her off the floor. She placed her head against his shoulder and her arms against his chest. He carried her like that all the way back across campus and into their building. In the hall in front of their door, Duke placed Viola down on her feet to get his keys but she stayed leaning against him, not loosing body contact.

Inside the room Viola took Duke's hands and squeezed them tightly in appreciation, then crawled into bed without saying a word and pulled the covers up to her shoulders.

Duke walked over to the side of her bed, kneeling beside Viola. "Are you okay? You scared me tonight." But Viola's eyes were shut, and she was fast asleep.

* * *

**Please Read & Review!**

**Special Thanks To****... **_**  
**_**Sleeping to Dream About You **for betareading my story.  
**Popculturemadness Website** for reminding me which songs didn't exist yet in 2006, and which did!


	5. Chapter 5

**Got Your Back**

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**Author's Notes:**_Here it is at last! I just wanted to thank everyone who took the time to review the last chapter- you guys are absolutely amazing! Thanks so much! This fic has over 1000 hits!! It's making me so happy to know this story is well read.  
__**Thank you to my absolutely wonderful Beta StDAY **__(SleepingtoDreamAboutYou), who makes sense of my madness.  
Just a note that it will take me longer to post chapter six, as I am starting to get swamped with real life. __**Xo, K.  
**_

* * *

**Chapter Five**

Viola woke up in her bed shivering. She tried to wrap her duvet around her, but realized it had slipped to the floor and only her sheet was covering her. Viola rubbed her eyes as she sat up, to get the crust out of her tear ducts so she could opened her eyes.

It was seven in the morning. She usually slept in after a night of partying, but her body's discomfort had awoken her early. She looked over to Duke's bed to expect him to be sound asleep but saw that he wasn't there. Viola wondered where he was so early in the morning. It's wasn't like any of the other guys would be up, especially after the wild party.

And then she remembered; the voice, the smell, the touch. What was his name? Pete? That jackass who had tried to take advantage of her. He would have too, if Duke hadn't been keeping an eye on her. She seriously owed Duke. Who knows how far Pete would have gone if he hadn't been stopped? But she didn't want to think about that. She was alright. She wasn't hurt. She felt sick to her stomach thinking about what _could _have happened. Recalling last night's events made Viola feel unclean from the party, from the spilt drinks, and from _him_. She got up, grabbed her towel and shower caddy, and headed for the washroom.

In the hall it was absolutely silent. She was right- no one was up right now. Figuring it was safe to take a quick shower, Viola quietly ran to the bathroom. She checked the wall of urinals with her eyes squinted, just in case, she saw that it was clear and then checked all the stalls. Those were clear too. She turned the water on first to let it heat up as she stripped down. Then she grabbed her shampoo and stepped under the water. She took her time in the shower, making sure to scrub every inch of her body clean of last night. Today would be a new start. Just as she was about to pour her conditioner into her hand she heard a high-pitched squeal from behind her.

Viola jumped and tried to cover herself. She turned her head around and saw the lanky blonde-haired boy that had tried to dance with her last night. She screamed and he did the same. Viola bolted for her towel at the same time she yelled out, "Close your eyes, you perv!"

"Men's ... washroom? Your... you... read...manual!" Malcolm choked out. He was clearly in shock.

Viola had her towel wrapped around her as she grabbed her shower caddy and bolted back to her room. She opened the door as quickly as she could then furiously slammed it shut behind her. She stood with her eyes closed, leaning against the door. Her heart was beating so quickly, and she willed it to slow down. It was only Malcolm, she thought. She remembered how Olivia had described him last night, and was glad a creep like him had no one to tell his story to.

Viola opened her eyes and saw Duke gaping at her. She looked at her feet, and angrily declared, "Malcolm saw me naked! Ack!"

Duke shook his head and grinded his teeth together. "Where is he, I'm going to-"

"No, Duke! It's okay, you don't need to knock him out - he didn't expect a girl to be in the washroom."

"Why were you in the guys' showers? You should go up to the fourth floor- it's an all-girls floor. That would be so much less complicated!"

Now it was Viola's turn to gape. "And WHY didn't you tell me about this before, Duke Orsino!"

"I, uh, never thought about it," He admitted.

Then Duke looked at Viola, realizing how exposed she was at this moment. The water on her neck, shoulders and legs gathering in droplets made her skin sparkle in the early morning light coming from the window. He slowly took in the sight of her and blushed with embarrassment when she met his gaze.

"I'll let you get changed," he said while stepping out of the room. "Wear workout clothes." Then Duke closed the door.

Viola changed into a pair of navy Adidas soccer shorts, a sports bra, and a white ribbed tank top. Duke knocked on the door then, and after Viola shouted it was okay, he re-entered.

"Hey, so I never got a chance to ask- how are you feeling? Are you okay?"

"Yeah Duke, I am. I can't thank you enough for last night. If you weren't there I can't even think about what would have-"

"Then don't think about it. I _was_ there. He didn't hurt you, did he?" Viola shook her head. "Good. So, I booked the soccer field this morning. I was wondering if you wanted to practice with me. Soccer always keeps my mind off things, and I thought you might like that today."

Viola was shocked by Duke's thoughtfulness. "Yeah, I would love that! Thanks."

"No problem," he replied. "Besides, it's perfect timing. All the guys are still out cold after last night, and Coach is on his day off. So it'll be you and me."

Smiling at that thought, Viola grabbed her soccer bag and slipped into her flip flops. She would change into her socks, shin guards and shoes at the field. The two walked to the field in comfortable silence.

After changing into their soccer gear, Duke disappeared into the equipment lock up for a minute, and came out with a giant netted bag full of soccer balls. They each grabbed one and lightly jogged onto the field.

"So coach," Viola teased Duke, "What do you want to start with today?"

"Uh, what about the elastico? We'll get warmed up and practice at the same time..." Duke clearly didn't want to boss Viola around. He wasn't _actually_ her coach after all. But Viola took it well and started dribbling the ball down the field, then did an elastico, flipping the ball with her toe to make it go in the opposite direction. Duke ran up behind Viola, dribbling the ball she had just past back, until he past her by several yards and did his own elastico. They continued doing this up and down the field for about ten minutes.

This was a pretty basic skill and Viola didn't need any help in it, so they moved on to the Rainbow.

"Ugh, Duke I suck at rainbows! It's not like you can actually use them in a real soccer game anyways- I'm pretty sure you would be mauled to death by every member on the opposing team."

Duke laughed at the image of Viola being beaten up by a bunch of guys. "So? It's good practice for footwork!"

Viola grimaced. The rainbow kick had the prettiest and happiest name of them all, but she could never quite get it. The kick was basically stepping over the ball, and then kicking it up behind you over your head, like a rainbow. "Walk me through it," She said to Duke.

Duke kicked a ball in front of him with his right foot, and began explaining the kick. "Okay, so basically you put one foot behind the ball. Your stronger foot, your right foot, is going to step out so it's in front of the ball but your feet will still be hip width apart."

Viola followed along as he explained the steps, carefully watching his feet.

He continued, "Then with your back foot twist the ball up against your left heel." Duke pulled the ball up his left heel about four inches off the ground, leaned forward and then popped the ball over his head.

"Woah there, speedy!" Viola exclaimed, as Duke lost her completely.

Duke ran to retrieve his ball and dribbled it back to his original spot. "Okay, so once the ball is twisted up your ankle, you're going to lean forward," Duke demonstrated in slow motion this time. "Then you're going to kick the ball with your right heel as you step forwards with your left foot."

Viola slowly went through the steps, and kicked the ball straight up into the air. She caught it as it came down. "My rainbow isn't very bow-like," she pouted.

Duke smiled. "Okay, this time make sure you lean forward _as you kick_ the ball with your heel, not after it."

Viola tried the rainbow again for the second time, and the ball arched into the air, over her head. "I did it!" She exclaimed while jumping up and down and wiggling her hips side to side. Duke watched amusedly at Viola's victory dance.

She kept practicing until she could do the trick in one fluid movement. Then they moved on to practice basic soccer kicks. Viola alternated practicing full volley and half volley shots into the net, with Duke as goal keeper. They had been practicing non-stop for two hours, and Viola needed a break. She stopped and got her water bottle while Duke walked towards her from the net. When Duke was by her side, Viola dramatically leaned back onto Duke, pretending to faint. Duke wasn't prepared for it and she sent them both down onto their backs on the field. Viola rolled off of his body and lay down on her back beside Duke.

"You have thoroughly exhausted me, Duke Orsino!" She said, letting out a deep breath of air.

"Well no kidding, you've been so intense in how you practiced," he laughed. "You won't have a problem tomorrow during the first practice. It'll be easier than tryouts for the first week."

"Thank god. I think my legs are going to hate me tomorrow morning!" Viola admitted. "But I still have a bit left in me; I just need ten minutes to recuperate."

"Fair enough; what do you want to work on?"

"Um, your pick- but make it something stunningly hard!"

"What about bicycle kicks?" Duke suggested.

"Yup. That's stunningly hard alright. I will be the new Hunter by the end of the week."

"Huntelaar? You want to be as good at bicycle kicks as Klaas Jan Huntelaar?" Duke asked teasingly.

"Yes! And I also want a spot in the KNVB. Pronto! You can do it Coach Duke!"

"Haha, yes the American girl in the Dutch men's soccer league. It's _so_ happening. You'll give The Hunter a run for his money."

Then Viola shivered. Thinking about the nickname 'the hunter' made her think of Pete, who was hunting her last night. She didn't know why she had made the connection, but now that she had, a lump formed in her throat.

"What's the matter?" Duke had felt Viola's involuntary movement against his body, and concern flooded him.

"It's, it's nothing Duke. Just... the hunter... and last night, it just reminded me of..."

Duke sat up, wrapped his arms around Viola and pulled her into a giant embrace which cut off her words. Viola let her head fall against Duke's chest. As close as they had gotten yesterday, it was last night's events that had brought them together. The two had only known each other for a day and a half, and already Viola trusted Duke with her life. The connection she felt between them was so strong, and so special- she had never felt anything like this with another person before, ever. She was so relaxed with him when they were just talking and he knew the right things to say or do when she was upset.

They stayed like that, in peaceful silence for a few more minutes. Then Viola sprang up, with her second wind. "Okay, Duke, teach me to do a bicycle kick!"

Duke explained the physics and mechanics of the kick and demonstrated it in slow motion to Viola over and over again, but she kept falling on her butt, her back and her sides without ever getting the kick quite right.

"Bend you back! Commit to the kick! Curl your chin in! Careful! Are you okay?" Duke yelled as Viola made her thousandth attempt at the kick.

She was lying on her back staring up at the bright blue sky. Then Duke's head eclipsed the sun, and his worried face was all she could see.

"Are you all right? You landed pretty hard."

"Uhhh," Viola moaned, "I'm fine."

"When you fall you have to watch the non-kicking knee, and brace yourself with your palms, okay? Want to try again?"

Viola rolled onto her hands and knees, and then stood up and shook herself off. Once more, Duke, and then I'm done for the day."

Duke kicked the ball towards the field, away from the net Viola was positioned in front of. She jumped up, bringing her left knee in towards her chest, and then did the same with the right knee but shot that leg out at the ball. As she fell backwards and pushed her left leg out, her right leg foot sent the ball heading straight for the net. She then extended both arms behind her, with her palms facing the ground and landed cleanly on her back, her arms bracing the fall. She immediately flipped onto her side and sprung up seeing if the ball went into the net. It hadn't, but Duke was running over to her cheering, with one fist pumping into the air.

"Viola! You did it! You landed it! That was great! Who cares if it didn't go in? We have a week to practice aiming."

A week. Duke had planned out a practice schedule that would have Viola first-string ready by Monday, so the coach could see 'Sebastian's' improvement before the game with Cornwall.

Duke flung his arms around Viola's waist and hoisted her up into the air, in excitement.

"Duke! Put me down!" She protested, but really the sudden contact with his strong arms made her heart flutter, and her breath catch in her chest.

"Fine," he said while placing her gingerly on the ground. "Why don't we go have a celebratory lunch instead?"

"That sounds amazing. I am starving."

Viola and Duke put the soccer balls back into the equipment lock up and headed to the campus caf to get something to eat.

Viola was lying on her bed exhausted after a very long day. After Viola and Duke had grabbed lunch they spent the rest of the day wandering around campus and the surrounding area, exploring. They talked about everything and anything. Viola's cheeks hurt from the smile she had worn all day.

She decided to pull out her laptop. After the Mac turned on, and that annoying spinning rainbow curser disappeared, she opened the internet and saw on her homepage an ad for the Prison Break season premiere.

"Yes!" She said happily under her breath.

Duke heard her from where he sat at his desk doing his readings before classes started next week. "What?" he asked with curiosity.

"The season premiere of Prison Break is on tonight! Wanna watch it with me?"

"Sure, that show's pretty awesome."

"Umm, is there a TV somewhere in the building?"

"Yeah, Toby has a computer screen we can hook up to the cable jack in here. When is it on?"

"In an hour," Viola replied with a smile.

"Cool, I'm just going to finish this chapter then go borrow it from him."

"What are you reading?" Viola asked, trying to look over to see what was on the desk, but the book was open and she couldn't see the title.

"Thomas More's _Utopia_. It's for Sociology, we're supposed to read it and write an essay proposal before classes start. "

"That's pretty gross... oh wait- is Sebastian supposed to do anything this week before classes?"

Duke laughed, "Maybe, what classes are in his schedule?"

Viola opened up her weekly schedule on the desktop and read them aloud. "I have Biology, English, Physics, Geography and World History. Our dad definitely chose Sebastian's courses for him when he was enrolled here! Sebastian would never take these classes- no wonder he keeps flunking out."

"Nope, you don't have any pre-assigned things, but you'll probably want to pick up your books for English before the class starts. So would you take those courses?" Duke asked, interested in Viola's academic interests.

"Yeah, I would except I would take Chemistry instead of History. I'm trying to get into UNC on a soccer scholarship, but I still need the marks."

"North Carolina, no way! That's my top choice school too! Soccer scholarship!"

"Well, we wouldn't be on the same team. I actually _want_ to be on the women's team in college." Viola said seriously, but with a playfulness in her eyes.

"Following in the footsteps of Mia Hamm?"

"Yes! That's actually what inspired me to apply there in the first place. I've wanted to go to UNC since I was twelve," Viola admitted.

"That's really cute," Duke conceded.

"Thanks?" Viola didn't know if he meant 'cute' in a good or bad way.

"I'm actually applying for the Exercise and Sport Science degree. I want to specialize in Athletic Training."

"That's awesome, Duke! You're an amazing coach- I didn't even break my back doing bicycle kicks," Viola joked around, but she was dead serious. Duke was a phenomenal teacher, and she was so grateful for his help in improving her soccer skills.

"And you'll actually be able to do them by the end of the week. Definitely. You just need to practice aiming and jumping back up after you fall. But we'll save that for tomorrow's lesson. So what program are _you_ applying into?" He asked Viola.

"Same as you- ESS, except for either Anatomy or Kinesiology. After my soccer career plays its course I want to be a sports injuries physician. I think. But for sure something where I'm working with athletes to help them."

"That's crazy that we're applying into the same program, huh?"

"Yeah," Viola agreed. "I never met anyone at Cornwall applying to ESS. But Illyria is more hard core, after all."

"Why thank you, imposter!" Duke joked.

"You're quite welcome! Now go get that TV! Prison Break is starting soon!"

"Ugh, I totally didn't even finish this section! Your fault," Duke blamed Viola with a smile on his face. It wasn't like he actually wanted to do his reading.

Duke came back with a decent sized 15" LCD screen. Duke pulled over the desk chair and put it in front of his bed, put the screen on it and then ran the cable from there to the wall outlet. Then he came back around and turned on the television, flipping to the Fox Network.

"Can you see from there?" Duke asked Viola.

"Not really," she replied.

"The cable doesn't reach any further. We're going to have to cram onto my bed, sorry." He apologized.

"That's okay, anything for Michael Scofield and Prison Break," Viola said as she placed her laptop at the foot of her bed and sat beside Duke. They leaned their backs against the headboard, Duke stretched his legs out in front of him, and Viola had hers crossed. "The guy who plays Scofield is so hot," she gushed as the theme song and introduction started.

Viola and Duke sat together comfortably while the beginning of the episode played. Then, Duke put his hands behind his head, and his elbows spread out. That was when Viola realized she was in Duke's bed with him. His left arm was behind her head, and if she leaned back an inch would be touching it. But it wasn't awkward like it should have been, there wasn't any tension. Everything between them seemed so natural and flowed so smoothly. Especially after the events of the party, they had this strong connection between them now.

The first commercial break started, and Duke let out a sigh. He had been holding his breath throughout the last half of the scene they had just watched because it was so intense. Viola was glad he really did like the show and that he wasn't just humouring her.

"Hey, you know you actually look a lot like Scofield?" Viola told Duke. Thinking about her roommate while watching the show had made that connection easy to make.

Duke grinned devilishly. "Oh really?" He mocked, "You think I'm irresistibly good looking?"

Viola blushed furiously. She had forgotten she had told Duke that she thought the actor was hot. "Don't flatter yourself," she said bitingly, although they were really just exchanging banter and joking around under the surface.

"You do!" Duke assumed, because Viola didn't directly answer his question.

Now it was Viola's turn to smirk. "Well, you might be if you had all those tattoos."

"I actually do have a tattoo." Duke said.

"You do? Where?" Viola had seen Duke in just shorts with no shirt, and hadn't remembered seeing any tattoos.

"Well, I could show you," Duke replied in a very suave James Bond-like voice. "But then I'd have to kill you."

"Oh wow Duke, that's so mysterious," Viola said sarcastically while rolling her eyes.

"Yes!" Duke pumped his fist in the air in mock excitement. "I'm irresistible and mysterious. I'm quite a catch, don't you think?" Duke looked towards Viola with a gigantic grin on his face, and battered his eyelashes just like Viola had done when she was pretending to be Olivia.

"Yes, Duke. I am madly in love with you," Viola said in a girly voice while holding the back of her hand to her forehead, like she was going to faint.

"Good. Let's make out," He responded.

"Sorry, no can do. I don't make out with fugitives of the United States," she reasoned.

"But I'm a very, very smart fugitive."

"Sorry, rules are rules." Viola said smugly, keeping on with the role play their banter had turned into.

"Damn." Duke said, laughing.

Viola shushed him, and smacked him in the stomach to get him to stop laughing. "It's back on!"

They sat side by side watching the show, but towards the end of the hour Viola's eyelids started drooping and she rested her head on Duke's shoulder. The words from the television started to drone on in the background as Viola slowly fell asleep...

Viola woke with a start to the sound of gunshots. She jolted upright, but relaxed as she felt Duke's arm around her shoulder, and realized the shots had come from the eleven o'clock news.

"Duke! You let me fall asleep on your shoulder! Why didn't you wake me up?" She chastised him.

"You looked so pretty, so peaceful." He said.

Then Viola will realized she had nestled back into his chest reflexively. "Umm... sorry about that," she said as she sat up.

"It's okay, I like it."

"Me too," Viola admitted.

She smiled up at duke and he returned the grin, then to Viola's shock he bent his head down and kissed her on the forehead.

"We have practice tomorrow, we should probably go to sleep." Duke told her with a smile.

He watched as Viola slowly rolled out of his bed and into her own, still in a state of shock. As she pulled the covers up to her ears, her brain was running at one hundred miles an hour. _What did that conversation mean? What did that kiss mean? He kissed me! On the forehead, but still! What have I gotten myself into... I have a crush on my roommate..._

Viola rolled over to see Duke peacefully asleep already. It would be another hour until Viola passed out with exhaustion, still thinking of Duke in her dreams.

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**Please Read & Review!**

**Coming Up in Chapter Six****... **_**The first kiss!  
**_


	6. Chapter 6

**Got Your Back**

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**Author's Notes: **_Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! Having over 50 reviews is very exciting- also, there have been over 1800 hits on the story! I'm ecstatic about it! I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please review after you read, I would really appreciate it! __**Thank you to my Beta StDAY!  
Xo, K.  
**_

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**Chapter Six**

It was eight am, and Viola and Duke were walking out onto the soccer field, along with their other teammates. It was the first official Illyria soccer practice of the season. They had less than two weeks to prepare for the big Cornwall-Illyria game. Well, it was a big game for Viola, but not many of the Illyria guys saw it that way. After all, they had crushed Cornwall miserably last year.

Duke had explained that this practice wasn't going to be too tough. This week, practices for second and first stringers were held at the same time so they were just going over techniques and basic game play. After warming up they started practicing simple volleys and already the coach was yelling himself red because of some silly second-stringer who couldn't aim.

It was a two hour practice which ended in a twenty minute session in the weight room. Viola had partnered with Duke to spot her, so she could look like she was lifting weight triple the amount she could actually press. She had no problem matching the guys' soccer skills, but there was no way her small body, no matter how fit, would be able to lift more than forty pounds of free weights.

After fudging the weight session, Viola headed in the opposite direction of all the other guys on the team to avoid the dreaded guys' locker room. Instead, she ran up to her and Duke's room, changed into a bathing suit, grabbed her towel, and then headed to the fourth floor. She was not going to risk getting caught naked by a random guy again, thank you very much. After her lengthy shower, Viola wrapped her hair in a towel and put on her large bath robe over her swim suit. Although she felt relaxed after the shower Viola couldn't help but wish she didn't have to take off after practice for it. She would have loved to hear what Duke thought about practice, specifically about her performance. But she would just have to wait until later that day because there was no way she was braving the locker room. Viola closed her eyes just thinking about it. In the split second she was lost in her head with her eyes tightly shut, she bumped into someone.

Viola's eyes flew open, and apologies spurted out of her mouth. Then she stopped and smiled when she realized it was Olivia. She really had to stop bumping into that poor girl!

"Olivia, hey! How are you?"

"Vi! I'm good- how are you? Hey- are you okay after what happened at the party? I saw Duke walking you out of the house. He said you were fine, but it looked like you were about to cry."

Viola wrapped her robe around her tighter. "Yeah, I'm fine, thanks to Duke. Actually, do you want to talk about it with me? Do you mind? I'd really like to have a girl to be able to tell this stuff to. Duke would get too worried."

"Yeah, for sure Viola, any time. Do you want to get changed first and then meet me in my room?"

Viola nodded, "That sounds good. It'll take me, like, four minutes. What's your room number?"

"I'm 402," Olivia said. "It's just down there." She pointed to the end of the hallway.

"Kay, I'll be right back. And, thanks."

Viola ran down the two flights of stairs quickly, and flew into her room. She threw on the first shirt she could find, which just happened to be Duke's Livestrong shirt. Then, she put on her own Hollister sweats. She quickly brushed out her hair, and put it up in a messy bun.

Viola knocked on Olivia's door minutes later. Olivia opened the door, greeting Viola with a warm smile.

"Hey! That was fast. Well, this is my room!"

Olivia had a single room, which was incredibly rare. She had lucked out, and gotten a room with giant floor to ceiling windows. The walls were light green, and she had put a cream and taupe rug down over the hard wood flooring. Her white washed desk was up against the window, and she had a brown leather swivel desk chair. She had a queen sized bed with a brightly coloured floral duvet. Above the bed like a head board were several small square corkboards put together which she had decorated with pictures, ads, school information and other little pieces of colourful paper.

Viola and Olivia sat crossed legged on the bed, and Viola explained what happened at the party. Olivia gasped and cringed as she heard the horrifying story.

"Vi, if I hadn't left you it wouldn't have happened."

"Liv, don't blame yourself. You were dancing, I was dancing and we were both drunk."

Olivia nodded. "Duke is your knight in shining armour then, huh? What happened when you guys got back to his room?"

"Nothing, I was out cold," Viola explained. "But, well... yesterday we were watching TV and I ended up falling asleep against him. Then when I woke up, he kissed me on the forehead."

Olivia squealed, and bounced up onto her knees, facing Viola. "Viola Hastings! You did what?!"

Viola blushed, and slowly nodded her head, cracking a smile. "I'm totally falling for him. But I don't know if it's right."

"What do you mean you don't know if it's right?" Olivia gasped in astonishment. "He's so perfect for you- I think you're the only girl he is actually able to form sentences around. It's meant to be!"

There was so much Viola was thinking about that would explain why it wasn't right, but of course she couldn't tell Olivia any of this. She had to live in the same room as him, they were both on the soccer team together, and she had to focus on improving her technique for the Cornwall game. She shouldn't be focussing on a boy when she had her game plan to worry about.

"You're just making excuses, Vi. You're scared. I can see it in his eyes that he really truly cares about you. Give it a chance, please? This could be something amazing!" Olivia looked so honest and innocent, and Viola had to agree. She _was _scared; absolutely horrified of this blossoming relationship. Not that you could call it a relationship yet. There was so much for Viola to worry about, and she didn't want to overwhelm herself. But Olivia was right. She needed to give this a chance. Whenever Duke locked eyes with her she got this tingling feeling, and her stomach started spinning in circles.

Olivia pushed Viola gently on the shoulder. "Earth to Vi!" Viola's eyes refocused and she looked at her friend sheepishly. "See? You were _day dreaming_ about him. If that's not a sign, I don't know what is!"

"You're right. I'm going to give it a shot. But I'm not going to force anything with him- whatever comes naturally will happen."

Olivia narrowed her eyes, "For now. But if you two aren't dating by the end of the first week of school, there will be some serious girl intervention!" Olivia said it like a threat.

"Okay, okay, Captain Matchmaker. Calm down!" They both laughed, and exchanged a quick hug.

"So what about you, Liv? Have any crushes in the school?" Viola prodded.

"Um no, not really. I just broke up with someone actually. His name was Ryan... Well, his name still is Ryan... We um, met at work over at Starbucks. He's in college and studying English. He was just really smart and charming. But it didn't work out. I think it was just too weird for him to be dating a younger girl..." Olivia trailed off, not wanting to press the issue further.

"Aw, I'm sorry. But there are tons of other fish in the sea," Viola said.

"Yeah, but they're all goldfish with a three second memory... Girl, boobs, sex! Girl, boobs, sex! ... I just want a guy who will look at me the way Duke looked at you the night of the party. Like I'm the only one he can see when we're together. I want something meaningful."

"Aw, Liv, I know what you mean. You know, Duke had a crush on you before he met me? When he couldn't even say a single word to you."

"Really? That's too funny. You know, I always thought he was just some dumb jock. Really not my type. But it turns out he was just shy."

"Mhmm, he is so shy it's crazy. But he's also really sweet, and sensitive. Like, really, really caring and attentive- and gentle too."

"See!? You have fallen for him- hard!"

"Yeah, I know," Viola mumbled.

The girls talked for another hour about all sorts of things- school, their future, Olivia's fundraiser fashion show for a school group she was part of, Viola's crazy mother and her cupcake dresses... they talked through lunch, and decided to microwave Pizza Pockets in the floor's microwave instead.

It was around seven in the evening when Viola took the two flights of stairs back to her room. When Viola walked in, she saw Duke lying on his bed throwing a soccer ball into the air and catching it, repeatedly. Duke sprang up when he saw Viola, then tried to act casually.

"Hey, want to go out for a run with me... I was just on my way out."

"You were just on your way out, huh?" Viola teased, she knew Duke was waiting for her to get back before he left.

He cocked his head to the side, knowing he had been found out. With slight embarrassment Duke muttered, "Whatever. You up for it?"

Viola cracked a grin. "I sure am," she said confidently, while putting her sneakers on.

"Nice shirt by the way," Duke laughed.

Viola looked down, remembering she had stolen Duke's tee. "Sorry, do you want me to-"

"No, you look good in my clothes." Duke still had a huge smile on his face, as he began taking in Viola's body. Embarrassed and unsure of the implications of Duke's statement Viola, who now had both runners on, bolted out the door, yelling behind her for Duke to catch up.

The two ran in awkward silence around the residence, by the parking lots, and as they headed over to the school building. It wasn't until Duke tripped over a loose slab of concrete and fell, that the silence was broken.

"Shit!" Duke swore, as he landed onto his outstretched hands.

Viola held her hands out and Duke took hold of them to help gain his balance as he stood up. "There," she said. "Now I'm not the only person who needed saving."

Duke grinned, as he brushed off the tiny rocks stuck to his knees. "I don't think that really counts," he replied.

"Oh no, no; that counts."

They grinned at each other and resumed their run, slowing their pace just a bit. The sky was beginning to get dark. They had already been out for thirty minutes. Viola was starting to tire and was just about to insist they slow down, when Duke interrupted her thoughts.

"We can take a break here," he said, nodding to a bench.

Viola put her foot on the bench, stretching out her leg, and reached her hands to her toes. She did the same to the other leg, and then stood up. When she turned around, she realized that they had stopped at the pond. It was beautiful out by the water at this time of the evening. The sun was setting, and the water was reflecting the golden hue of the sky above.

Duke turned to Viola, who was still watching the sky. "I never got to congratulate you after practice. You were awesome today. Keep it up, and you're first string for sure." Duke paused, as if lost in thought for a moment, before continuing. "The way you moved out there was amazing. You were so graceful but so driven at the same time. I couldn't take my eyes off you."

Viola blushed at his compliment, and slowly turned to face Duke. He had been watching her face the whole time he spoke, and was now staring directly into Viola's eyes, not realizing how much he was telling and admitting to the beautiful girl in front of him with his glance. Viola's heart stopped, and her head started spinning. She knew then that her feelings were reciprocated. Duke was looking at Viola with such intensity that she couldn't resist taking a step closer.

Duke's hands moved to Viola's hips and she leaned into Duke as he pulled her body up against his own. Viola placed her arms on his shoulders, and her hands behind his neck, bringing them even closer together. Duke bent his head down, and Viola looked up into his gorgeous green eyes. Her body hummed with nervous energy and excitement. Their lips met, and Viola could feel Duke's strong lips moving against her own. His hands moved to Viola's cheeks, gently holding her face as he planted one last, deep kiss on her lips.

"Viola, I really like you." Viola couldn't keep a puppy dog grin off her face, even if Duke's words weren't the most eloquent.

"I really like you too, Duke." Duke grinned, and planted a quick kiss on Viola's lips, then took her hand and led her back to the dorms.

When they get back to their room, Duke opened the door, leading the way. Viola took a large step to get into the room, ending up directly behind Duke. She ran her hands slowly along his sides, and then pressed herself against his back. Suddenly, Viola was pinned against the wall- Duke had spun around and was pushing her against the wall, his hands on either side of her head, kissing her passionately. Viola barely had the time to take a breath of air. Her knees felt weak, so she instinctively reached her hands behind Duke's head, clasping them together behind his neck. Duke's lips parted, and Viola followed suit, their kiss deepening.

Then suddenly, Duke pulled his head away from Viola's, breaking the kiss without any warning. Viola was suddenly nervous. _Had she done something wrong? Was this too much too soon?_

But then Duke looked over his shoulder at his alarm clock and smirked. It was nine already, they had taken their time walking back from the pond. "You might want to go to sleep tonight as Sebastian. You change while I finish my reading; I won't look." Duke took a step away from Viola and dropped his hands.

"Um, why?" Viola questioned Duke's strange request but then smiled to herself. "You just want to peek." Viola started to slowly lift the bottom of her shirt, teasingly. Duke blushed furiously, and pulled her hands and shirt back down.

"No, it's initiation tonight for the soccer team. The seniors haze the new guys on the team. We tie them up in the shower room, turn off the lights, make the guys strip and throw stuff at them. It's hilarious."

"Yeah, super hilarious, Duke- especially that stripping part- that really goes over well with the whole **I'm a** **girl** thing. You might have noticed? So what do you propose?"

"Well, the fire alarm is right beside the door. Say you pulled it, the sprinklers come on, and in the chaos you slip out?"

"Sounds like a plan." Viola and Duke exchanged smiles. The two got ready for that night, while exchanging nervous smiles, and turning over the early evening's events in their heads.

**

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**Please Read & Review!**

**Coming Up in Chapter Seven****... **_**An initiation evacuation, an immediate crush, and an inevitable solution.  
**_


	7. Chapter 7

**Got Your Back**

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**Author's Notes: **Thank you for being so patient with me, I know this update took forever and a half to get online! I'm sorry about that! I'm swamped with school right now, and will be for the next few weeks. I hope you enjoy this chapter!_**Thank you to my Beta SleepingtoDreamAboutYou!  
Xo, K.**_

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**Chapter Seven**

Viola was tied to a column in the boy's shower room. Water was spraying into her face, and her clothes were beginning to get soaked. The rope around her waist wasn't too tight though, and Duke had made sure not to tie up her hands. The lights were out, and Viola's discomfort was slowly growing. The first stringers were wearing their soccer uniforms, and strange face paint that probably made them feel important, but really just looked stupid. They began throwing oatmeal at them, people were screaming, laughing, yelling; the sounds bouncing off the tiled wiles and echoing twice as loudly in the room. Cooked, sticky, wet oatmeal was now being thrown at them, as their assailers were jumping and running around them.

"Take of your clothes, runts!" Were the orders now being barked at the boys. Now was as good a time as any for Viola to make a break for it, and everyone was being untied, and there were bodies and chaos everywhere. Viola ducked down, crawling to the doorway where she knew a fire alarm would be. She reached up and pulled it, immediately tripping the blaring alarm. She ran out of the bathroom before any of the other guys had a chance to reach, and went to her room. She didn't particularly want to evacuate and parade around outside with wet, oatmeal covered pyjamas on. Earlier that evening she had laid out a pair of sweats and a large oversized hoodie to change into.

Viola already had the sweats on and was just throwing the sweater over her head, when Duke ran into the room laughing hysterically. "Come on, Vi, we need to leave!" Duke grabbed a soccer ball on his way out, then the two ran down the stairs and out onto the lawn in front of the dorms.

Outside, almost all of the student body gathered. A lot of the girls were looking particularly embarrassed because their hair was undone and they didn't have any make up on. But mostly, people had brought their pillows and blankets outside and were creating make-shift beds on the benches and lawn available.

Duke and Viola were both very much awake, and they started kicking around the ball Duke had brought out. The fire trucks had arrived, with sirens blaring, and Viola could see the firemen and inspector talking to the headmaster before entering the school.

Viola and Duke were about to start practicing bicycle kicks by aiming at sleeping students, when Toby and Andrew ran up to them. Viola looked behind the boys, and saw they had separated from the group of soccer players- half soaking with oatmeal covering them, and half with their uniforms on. Toby and Andrew had already washed off their black 'war paint'.

"Hey Duke. Sebastian," Toby greeted.

"You got out fast enough to change? He's the only smart one out of the bunch," Andrew commented, seeing that Viola wasn't wearing boxers and breakfast food like the rest of her teammates.

Duke laughed, and the four of them started playing a game of two on two. The teams were Duke and Viola versus Andrew and Toby. They used trash bins to set the limits of the nets. Viola and Duke worked flawlessly as a team, because of all the practice sessions they had had together. Each knew what they other was thinking, the second they saw a foot veer right of the ball or a hip swivel to the left. Andrew and Toby were formidable opponents, and all four were fairly evenly matched in skill. However, Duke and Viola dominated the game from start to finish with their silent strategy derived from the hours spent practicing together. The friends had decided to play until fifteen goals, and Duke shot the ball between the cans with a showy and unnecessary rainbow kick. Toby pounced on Duke, tackling him to the ground, but Duke fought his way free to embrace Viola.

"Way to go, teammate!" She said, hugging him back. Viola was just about to allow Duke to life her into the air, when they both realized the awkwardness of the situation. Viola _was_, currently, a guy.

Once the two had separated they turned to see that their game had drawn a small audience. Stepping out from the crowd on the side lines was Olivia. She was wrapped up in a comfy looking purple housecoat. She stopped when she reached Duke and Sebastian.

"Hey, I haven't seen you around for a while," she said to Sebastian. "It's Olivia, remember?"

"Uh... yeah. Hey," Viola said in her gruff voice.

"You were awesome just then! You should be first string, for sure."

"Thanks, Olivia. Hopefully the coach will let me play." Viola was glad for the compliment, even though she didn't think Olivia knew too much about soccer.

"Yeah, hopefully. So, what classes do you have this semester? Maybe we have something together."

Viola listed off her classes one by one, each time Olivia would pipe in with comments about teachers, assignments, and tips to getting through unscathed. "And my last class is Bio."

"No way! I have biology then, too! We're in a class together. That rocks," Olivia was nodding quickly, with a giddy smile on her face but Viola just thought she was being overly friendly to the 'new kid'.

Duke cleared his throat then, feeling left out of the conversation, and not being comfortable just awkwardly standing by Viola's side. "I'm in that class too."

"Cool," Olivia responded, but not even glancing over at Duke. "So, Sebastian, have you picked up your text books and Bio-Chem kit yet?"

"Uh, no. Didn't know I had to." Viola glared at Duke for forgetting to tell her this small piece of information. He _did _have bio _with_ her after all. Duke just shrugged his shoulders.

"So do you want to go tomorrow to pick up our books? I want to go before only the books that are falling apart are left."

"Sounds good," Viola responded.

Just then the fire alarm stopped ringing, and the fire chief announced over the school's loud speaker that it was safe for the students to re-enter the building.

* * *

Viola and Duke had slept in that morning, because they were up so late with the disturbance of the fire alarm. They had to book it to early morning practice after racing to get ready. It was now eleven thirty, and Duke, Viola as Sebastian, and Olivia were heading over to the cafeteria to grab a quick lunch. Duke and Viola had met Olivia after practice to pick up text books and supplies for their class, and were having a great time together.

On the way, Viola noticed a slew of posters stuck to the sides of buildings and lamp posts around campus that hadn't been there yesterday. They were for a concert, for the band 'Ascella Vegas'. "Have you heard of these guys before?" Viola asked the others.

Duke shook his head no, but Olivia nodded yes. "Yeah, it's a group of guys from Chapel Hill, it's like indie rock, but a more edgy sound. They're really good, actually. We should check out the concert."

Viola was shocked. She didn't know Olivia was actually into the music scene. But then again, all she knew about Liv's music taste was that she knew the words to a popular Shakira song. "So what kind of music are you into?" Viola asked Olivia.

"Um, I like a lot of stuff actually. My favourites right now are The Shins, OK GO, The Veronicas and Matt White."

"No way, The Veronicas? I love them!" Duke veiled a snort, and nudged Viola discreetly in the ribs. Right, Viola like The Veronicas, but they were more of a girly sound. "They're pretty good, but they're overplayed on the radio. Have you heard of Junior Senior? They're fun, you might like them. It's more party music, too."

"I know I've heard of them, I'd probably recognize them if I heard it."

Viola remembered she had Sebastian's CD collection in her dorm, "I could lend you their CD if you want. Do you like Ska?"

"Yeah, I do. Those are the best concerts. Less Than Jake is my favourite, for sure."

"Oh yeah, they're classic."

"Even I know that one," Duke said. Viola knew he was out of his element in this conversation. He liked more popular stuff, like Sum 41 that could get him revved for practice, or to listen to while working out. Viola made a mental note to look at Sebastian's CDs so she would know more of his music tastes. Viola did remember a few bands, because she had been wearing Sebastian's oversized concert tees a lot lately.

The three had entered the cafeteria and were grabbing there food. "What is you all time favourite band?" Olivia asked 'Sebastian'.

"Right now, it's the Violent Femmes." Viola had had to listen to Sebastian rambling about them lately. "I went to an Arcade Fire concert, and they did a cover of 'Kiss Off'. I've been a bit obsessed for a while. They really inspire my lyrics."

"Cool, I'll have to listen to them for sure," Olivia smiled. "So you write songs? Are you in a band?" She asked as they sat down.

"Yeah, I play guitar."

"That's so awesome, would you let me read some of your stuff some time?"

"Um, I guess so, sure." Viola wasn't really sure if she had any of Sebastian's lyrics here, but figured they would probably be doodled in his binders. She at least had a demo CD she could lend Olivia.

"Cool," Olivia said, with a smile and a nod. The conversation carried on throughout the meal, and as they walked to pick up their books and kits. Mostly Olivia and Viola bantered back and forth as Duke nodded and snuck in a comment here and there.

* * *

That afternoon, Duke and Viola were chilling out in their dorm room. Viola had changed into sweats and a tank top, and had her disguise off. She was flopped down on her bed, leafing through the pages of her biology text book. However nerdy it was, Viola was excited for Senior-level bio. There was a whole unit on kinesiology, which she was stoked for. She was just about to delve into Chapter 5, 'Biomechanics: Soft Tissue, Muscle, and Bone', when Duke asked her what she was reading.

"Um, I know it's nerdy, but I'm reading ahead for Bio," Viola explained.

Duke smiled and sat down beside her as Viola moved to make room for him. "What part are you at?" Duke asked.

Viola lifted the book towards him, so he could see the title of the chapter. She flipped the pages until she found something relevant to them.

"There." Duke put his finger on a labelled diagram of the human leg muscles and Viola stopped flipping. "You read them," Duke grinned at Viola as she turned her head to watch him speak, "and I'll demonstrate." Duke put his hands on Viola's angles, massaging her.

Viola's breath caught in her chest, and rolled onto her side, so she could see Duke as she read. "Umm, the Soleus," Duke's hand slowly moved up the back of her ankle. Viola's heart started to beat loudly as she continued, "Tibialis anterior." Duke's hand moved to the front of her leg slowly working its way up. "The Gastrocnemius," Viola watched Duke's eyes as his hand slid to her calf, and behind her knee. Their gaze was unmoving, but Viola's heart was flying. Viola was so turned on by the amount of control Duke had taken over the situation, and his hand creeping closer and closer up helped to raise her pulse. Viola tore her eyes away from Duke's to continue reading. "Vastus... medialis..." Viola whispered the words out as she felt duke massage her upper leg with his warm hands. "Vastus Lateralis," Viola gasped out as Duke bent down to kiss her muscular upper thigh.

"What's the scientific word for lips?" Duke asked her, looking up with a seductive grin. Without waiting for a reply, he lied down beside Viola and took her head in his hands, planting his lips firmly on hers.

Just then Viola's cell phone beeped twice, and vibrated on her night stand. She jumped in surprise breaking the kiss and startling Duke. She gave him an apologetic look and a quick kiss on the lips as she flipped over and reached for her phone.

Viola opened her cell and read the text. "Shit," Viola muttered under her breath.

"What?" Duke looked over and saw Viola's cell in her hand.

She stared at the ceiling before answering, "Olivia has a… she likes Sebastian." Viola blushed in embarrassment, knowing what this meant.

Duke scoffed. "You mean she likes… you?! And to think, I used to have a huge crush on a lesbian!"

"Duke!" Viola shoved his shoulder gently. "She does not have a crush on ME! It's my brother's personality she likes. It was when we were talking about my brother's music, I think. Here, read it."

Viola tossed her phone to Duke, and he read the message.

_Vi-  
I talked to your brother today,  
and I think I might like him!!  
Is that OK?  
-Liv._

Duke laughed as he tossed the phone back. "Well, what are you going to do about it? She's the hottest girl in the school-"

"Hey!"

"Well you don't go to this school do you, Viola?"

She scowled, but was satisfied with his explanation. "Okay, continue."

"And I seriously don't think any normal guy would turn down the opportunity to go out with her. So… what are you going to do?"

Viola thought about it for a second, then flipped open her cell to her address book. She scrolled down until she found the name she was looking for: Paul. She clicked dial.

Almost immediately, Viola heard Paul's voice on the other end. "You are in so much trouble young lady!"

"What? Why?" Viola started to panic, her mind racing through all the people who could have found her out.

"Hmm, let me think. It's Thursday. I dropped you off Monday. It's been almost four days and you haven't e-mailed, texted, or called me! Not once! I was getting worried about you."

"I'm so, so sorry, Paul! But I have so much to tell you, you are seriously going to pee yourself."

"Ew. Viola. That expression? Never again."

"Right, whatever. You're going to flip."

"Spill, then girl!"

Viola filled Paul in on her past three days, about Duke, Olivia, making second string and every other silly detail Paul asked about. When Olivia told Paul about her and Duke's first kiss, she smiled up at Duke who was still beside her on the bed listening to the conversation. Then she told Paul about the text message and her idea.

"So let me get this right. You want me to come up with a plan to make this Olivia chick stop liking Sebastian? And you said she wasn't into dumb jocks; that she wanted a meaningful relationship? Hmmm... I think I've got it! Meet me- oh, never mind. I'll pick you up in twenty minutes. Be out in front of your residence building!"

"Thanks so much, Paul! You're a life saver!" Viola said with a squeal, and snapped the phone closed.

She turned back to Duke with a smile, and they picked up where they left off, exploring the muscles of the face with hands and lips.

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**Please Read & Review!**

**Coming Up in Chapter Eight... **_**Wreaking havoc one girl at a time, in Cesario's! And someone begins to fall out of love, but who is it?**_


	8. Chapter 8

**Got Your Back****  


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**Author's Notes: **I know that this chapter has taken many months to go online! I apologize to all my readers, but thank you so so much to those of you who have stuck around & kept reviewing my work! So this is actually half of Chapter 8, but I decided to split it up into two parts so that you would actually have something to read. I thought that was a good idea, yes? Please review and tell me what you think! The story almost has 100 reviews so if we could push the number into the triple digits that would give me a lot of incentive to write the second part faster ;) Thanks again for sticking around, my wonderful readers! **Xo, K.**

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**Chapter 8**

Viola and Duke walked out of their residence building to see Paul parked outside the door, leaning against his car waiting for the two. Viola ran down the steps and introduced her two favourite men to each other. "Paul, this is Duke. Duke, Paul."

"Hey, what's up?" Duke greeted, as Paul looked him over.

"Nice to meet you, Duke." Paul then turned his attention to Viola, "You sure know how to pick them, don't you miss Hastings?" he asked with a nod of approval.

Viola slightly inclined her head, then looked over at Duke and grinned at him.

"So what's this ingenious plan of yours, Paul?" Viola asked after they had climbed into Paul's car. Viola was sitting beside Paul, and Duke had the back to himself.

"No no, that waits until we have _arrived_." Paul said with an air of mystery and exaggeration.

"Arrived where?" Duke asked.

"He's is sooo not going to tell us," explained Viola.

"Right you are, my little protégé, right you are." Paul smirked slyly and looked ahead, focussing intently on driving, to avoid any further questioning.

It wasn't too long until they arrived at Paul's work. His hair salon, Cristofe, was the edgiest in town. Viola loved hanging out here whenever she could. The three headed to a back room, with Paul leading the way. He opened a pink door, with a grand gesture, and let Viola and Duke step in first.

"My heaven," Paul said eloquently, as he followed them in and shut the door behind them.

Viola gasped. She had never seen this room before! It was like a celebrity lounge, with white couches in the centre, and a silver coffee table with the latest issues of Vogue, Vanity Fair, Fashion and Elle spread across them. Off to the left side were two white vanities, with mirrors, and white chairs with hot pink cushions on them. But the best part was the walls. All four walls were painted the same hot pink as the door, and they were lined with racks and racks of the most beautiful clothing. Most of them were dresses, but one wall was for men's clothes.

"It's the party room," Paul said with a huge grin on his face. "It's new, babe. I would have told you about it if you had called me, I swear! My friend from the fashion closet at Elle sent over their excess stock, as thanks for helping them out of a jam for one of their shoots. They needed hair and makeup, and their lady fell through."

"This is amazing, Paul!"

"It's... very Pink." Duke said, not knowing how to react. Fashion wasn't really his thing.

"You'll appreciate it once I get you into Armani for tonight, trust me. But first, the plan. Sit, you two!"

As soon as all three had settled on the couches in the centre of the room, Paul began his explanation. "Well, you said that Olivia was interested in Sebastian's music, and didn't like Duke because she thought he was dense. Well, this girl sounds like she doesn't like players thus, Sebastian is going to be a player tonight! So I looked up 'picking up girls at bars' on Google, and-"

"You did what?!" Viola gasped, right before bursting into laughter.

"Well, I didn't realize this hunk of a man would be here, too- he could have just given you tips!" That made Viola laugh even harder, trying to picture her shy and awkward Duke picking up girls was a sight for sore eyes.

"Hey. Don't laugh at me!" Duke shoved Viola playful with his elbow. "Although I admit, I never have been successful."

"You've tried picking up girls in bars?" Viola asked, between giggles.

"Well, no," Duke admitted, his cheeks turning slightly pink. "But I've _thought_ about picking up girls in bars." Duke gave a half smile, and shrugged.

"You are too cute!" Paul exclaimed. "Think of it this way, Vi. He was subconsciously waiting for you!"

Viola and Duke exchanged sheepish smiles, and Duke put his arm around Viola's waist, in silent agreement to Paul's words.

"Okay Paul, enough about us, what is your plan?"

"So as I was saying, I googled 'picking up girls at bars', and all I found was date rape drugs and stuff about getting laid. Neither of which are going to work for us... although the first one would definitely make Olivia stop liking you!"

"Paul!" Viola cried out, not allowing her friend to make jokes about serious issues.

"Sorry, sorry! Anyways, I got to thinking: what if the lovely ladies Sebastian was picking up couldn't resist?"

"I thought we said no to the date rape drugs?" Asked Duke, with a confused expression on his face. Viola swatted him on the chest, but then saw that he wasn't kidding, and turned to Paul to hear his explanation.

"We are going to get your sexy friends from Cornwall, and my sexy models from the hair salon, and have the best friggin' party of the year! And you,_ sir_," Paul directed at Viola, "are going to be the main attraction." Viola squealed and clapped her hands together in excitement. Duke smiled, thinking of all the fun he was going to have tonight, watching his girlfriend with other _girls_.

Paul noticed Duke's faraway look. "Looks like your boyfriend's happy about my plan too. A room full of dancing girls, dancing with his _girlfriend_? It's every man's fantasy."

"Don't get too happy there, sparky." Viola quipped, "Your girlfriend is going to have sideburns, and be lacking other things." Viola motioned to her breasts, and Paul burst out laughing. Duke just shrugged his shoulders.

"I rented out Cesario's, and the guest list is almost full. Duke, you can invite some of your buddies, but trust me, they aren't taking those girls _anywhere_ tonight."

Paul began to pull different clothes off the wall, throwing them onto the nearest couch. Finally, when he was done, he turned around and stared intently at the large pile he had made. "Cool, edgy," He said, deep in thought. "Hmm, leather. Cotton. Dark denim. Perfect!" Paul held up an outfit and threw it at Viola and motioned for her to go try it on.

When Viola stepped out of the change room, she was wearing dark wash men's jeans, which were a bit too long in the legs but fit her everywhere else. She had a heather grey cotton v-neck t-shirt on, and on top of that a sleek black leather motorcycle jacket.

"Awesome," Duke said. "Paul, can you hook me up with that jacket?"

"I'll see what I can do," he said with a wink. "But Vi- you are going to look hot tonight as Sebastian. Hmm, maybe, though..." Paul trailed of as he wandered to the accessory shelf on the adjacent wall, and picked up a pair of Aviator glasses. "Put these on." Viola followed orders. "Still... there's something not quite perfect."

"Gee thanks, Paul," Viola laughed. "What are you going to do? Give my face plastic surgery?"

"That's it!" he exclaimed.

"What's it?" Duke asked, not following the conversation.

"What? Paul, you can't operate on me! What are you talking about?"

"Makeup!" Paul explained. Now both Viola and Duke were gawking at him with incomprehension.

"Makeup? For a dude?" Duke gaped.

But Paul had already dragged Viola to a nearby chair, and was getting his makeup kit, so he ignored the question. Rejected, Duke went to sit on a couch and wait until the two were done. After about twenty minutes Paul spoke to Duke. "Don't think of it as makeup... more like man up!" He said, as he turned Viola around, so Duke could see.

"Woah... that is just too freaky, Vi."

Paul passed Viola a handheld mirror so she could inspect her face closely. "I see your point Paul; this does make me look more mature. And more manly... weird."

"Well, you'll look hot at the bar tonight, that's for sure. And now for the hair! You two can go grab dinner, I don't need you Vi, I just need the wig." Paul winked at Viola, and she and Duke left, going to the front of the salon.

It was nine thirty in the night by the time Paul had finished his work, with immense precision. Viola now looked like a better version of Sebastian and couldn't wait to show a picture to her brother when he was back in the country. Duke even had borrowed an outfit from Paul and was looking very dapper in a pair of black jeans and a silk black Armani dress shirt, which had the top three buttons undone. The three were now in Paul's car, driving to a location unknown.


End file.
